Over the weekend, China’s Tekken 8 player xiaochenchen (XCC) stormed through the bracket at Tiger Uppercut. To call this an unexpected result is an understatement. People know there’s a burgeoning fighting game scene in China, but fair or unfairly it’s not getting the same attention as other countries. XCC was set to potentially throw a brick over such a misunderstanding, but was unable to do so. According to Tekken World Tour regulations, he was disqualified.
Did he cheat? Did he behave poorly in front of other competitors? you’re welcome. The Tekken World Tour rules do not include China as one of the included countries. Additionally, it states that players from countries not listed cannot compete. While it’s not the only country absent, this means that all players from China, whether they have Tekken World Tour ambitions or not, will be unable to participate in many popular Tekken events.
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There are many questions floating around about this situation, let’s analyze them one by one. First of all, why isn’t China included in the Tekken World Tour? Well, there’s no official word on why. We do know that Tekken 8 does not have dedicated servers in China and is technically not an officially supported country. So it’s possible that the folks writing the Tekken World Tour rules have moved to an officially supported region and called it a day.
Some people believe that the line between countries that can and cannot compete in the Tekken World Tour is due to Bandai Namco’s political stance. While technically it may be the case (often products being available in other countries are the result of real-world politics, trade embargoes, government approval processes, etc.), I highly doubt that a company like Bandai Namco would choose one side over the other. On international political issues. Tekken 8, despite all the sports laundering concerns, is part of the Esports World Cup, so the company doesn’t have a history of being too concerned about geopolitical relations, human rights violations, etc.
What’s the bigger reason that’s been floating around online while all this is happening? Why was XCC able to participate in the tournament in the first place? Or why did it take him until he reached the top eight to be disqualified? You have to understand that a DQ at that point in the tournament is truly disastrous in terms of tournament integrity. XCC knocked out some really good players on their way to the top eight. These are players who would otherwise be able to score some sweet, sweet Tekken World Tour points (and prize money) for themselves. Dark stains appear throughout the tournament bracket.
I feel for the staff at Thaiger Uppercut. Although the responsibility ultimately falls on them here. Ideally, XCC and other Chinese athletes should have been spotted at the arrivals hall before they even boarded the plane. But with only 550 participants, someone had to manually check every player to see if they were from China or another country not on the official Tekken World Tour country list. If you register for the event on start.gg, you’ll see that XCC’s account lists Shenyang, China as his home location, so all the red flags for rule violations are there.
In the end, it doesn’t matter whether someone went through your account, didn’t check all the accounts you signed up for, or thought it wouldn’t be a problem. As harsh as it may sound, he shouldn’t have been able to join at all. But to enjoy the benefits of being part of the Tekken World Tour, you also have to accept the downsides.
This ultimately leads to the last big question, and the one I think is the most important. Why on earth is it that if a country fails to participate in the Tekken World Tour, they are disqualified from events hosted by that country? It may sound strange looking at the previous paragraph, but must This means that XCC will not be able to receive Tekken World Tour points and will not be able to attend Bandai-owned events such as the TWT Finals. According to the rules, Chinese players aspiring for greatness are not allowed to attend. any Major events around the world. Even though there is grassroots activity and great athletes living there, they are cut off from the competitive world.
Other competitive games have had their own issues with players from banned regions. In Counter Strike, the entire scene was set against Russia at the start of the war in Ukraine, leaving many previously great players in limbo and essentially unemployed. Unable to go on stage and criticize Russia while their families remained in Russia, Russian athletes were forced to choose whether to leave the country to further their careers or hang up their mitts and find another job. This is certainly a difficult choice for Counter-Strike players, but it’s easy to see the future when you compare that scene to fighting games, where a competitive player’s average win can be equivalent to a bag of flour and a pat on the back. Chinese players are no longer focused on Tekken.
Some have called for an Olympic-style approach where Chinese athletes can compete without their country’s flag on their backs, but honestly, this could all be solved by adding one short paragraph to the rules. Players from outside of permitted countries can compete but cannot take TWT points home.
For now, the situation feels serious. Tiger Uppercut has been around for over 10 years. Although it is not a Bandai Namco property, it is sponsored by Tekken World Tour and must follow its rules. Many people look back on the “good old days” when players would go to international majors on a whim and fight for $50, and there’s a good reason they did that. The competitive world of Tekken has become much more premium in recent years and the prize pools have been more generous, but this has also led to more hands-on experience for developers and publishers and an organic ‘World Warrior’ environment where monsters can come from anywhere. . Your country’s major is out the door.
What this means now is that players like XCC will essentially never be world champions despite their individual skills, and China will be left in the dark. At least to me, those are the fundamental values ​​that built the Tekken scene as we know it. Bandai Namco released a statement saying the rules may change as a result. I sincerely hope so.
