Daigo got me mad - The Capcom Pro Tour Rant

Street Fighter 6 has reached a height of popularity unseen in the franchise since the 1990s - so why is the pro tour failing to catch any interest? Brian breaks down why Japanese players don't travel, why Capcom needs to rethink its format, and why Daigo is - shockingly - dead wrong.
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[@Avian07]

I thought this is Brian getting mad at Daigo. It's actually, Brian getting mad that he's not getting enough Daigo. 😆

[@Testrun32-r8n]

He is a paid spokesperson of Capcom, so it makes sense.

[@unofficialtoppotdoughnuts6364]

@@Testrun32-r8n Source (that you dont have)?

[@Brian_F]

​@unofficialtoppotdoughnuts6364 this guy comments this on every video lol even on this video where im doing nothing but CRITIQUING capcom I wish i got paid by capcom to critique them lol

[@mlowd5753]

@@Brian_F mans is a professional hater. wakes up, takes a shit, look to see if brian posted a video, gets out of bed.

[@invertbrid]

​@@Testrun32-r8nyour life seems so sad bro lol

[@ProsodiJ]

Brian is right. For the first time in 12+ years I don't really care about what is going on in the competitive scene outside of EVO and CC. There was something to be said in having the global best of the best travelling around the world hungry for points every few weeks that brought out the highest quality competition consistently and gave a better emotional payoff for both the winner and viewer. Now it's kinda meh.

[@henriquerodrigues7795]

It also meant most killers who already qualified at this point had to stay on their toes and keep going to torneys and doing well, or they risked getting beaten in points by other playwrs grinding more

[@han3wmanwukong125]

Welcome to SF6, the hype killer.

[@phaze12490]

@@ProsodiJ big facts used to be happy as hell seeing tournament now i see these no names on stage doing worst than what id do is crazy they definitely need to setup better tournament for everyone not regions some of these regions are trash

[@johnnymo4000]

There are no more rivalries or money matches to rep a set either. That has made it less entertaining, imo as well. That has been ruined by sponsors and the social climate. I miss a little trash talk. Punk is about the only one who is still talking sht and even he is tame.

[@sozestone6469]

Couldn't of said it better. Sucks because the game is actually good.

[@carlisborgon]

Unrelated, but goddamn thank God for Sajam existing. I would have never found all my new favs, Brian, Dia, Phi, Brawlpro, Coney, etc. if it wasn't for the slam. Its so refreshing seeing normal, levelheaded, passionate people like Brian and BP succeed. That's all, just wanted to glaze, keep it up Bri 🙏🏼🥰

[@pastorofmuppets9346]

Oh youre a sajam fan now?

[@finalflash98]

fr Brian_F is my goat after the slam. i love Phidx and the way he breaks stuff down. maybe i havent come across everyone that does the same for street fighter but brians tournament recap commentary is so entertaining and informative to watch.

[@efemji]

he should've gotten that million dollars for free marketing

[@interceptingfist5682]

Please don't take the Lord's name in vain

[@justcallmesiv]

I don't see dokibird the coldest gief in the game and eskay (who's actually impressive) on here

[@crimhammerlock8963]

the F stands for fRant

[@YuiLes69]

I thought it was fReaky

[@EarthLordCJ]

BriRant_FRant

[@mralvogrado8961]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@jayro792]

If Capcom Cup was increased to 64 players then there could potentially be up to 16 more premier spots to add to the existing 10, making 26. Or have some more super/regular regions with some more premier spots. The premier spots could be made up from a global leaderboard finalised through players attending several premiers to accrue points (like how it was pre-COVID). An entire 64 player tournament with 16 groups of 4 players (FT2), where the top 2 go through to a 32 double elimination bracket (FT2), and then at the top 16 stage, matches increase to FT3 ; would have the exact same number of matches to play as the current entire 48 tournament format (8 groups of 6 FT2 > top 16 FT3). So both tournament formats have 142 matches in total. Therefore Capcom might as well do a 64 player tournament instead of 48. From this my suggestion for spots would be: > 1 spot - Previous winner (seeded) > 22 spots - from a global leaderboard (all seeded) > 1 spot - LCQ (seeded) > 28 spots - 14 Super regions (6 seeds from winners of 6 top regions) > 12 spots - 12 Regular regions I think this solution would bring back the excitement of CPT and have the best players qualify whilst still allowing for good players from all over the world from obscure regions who can’t afford to travel. EDIT: Apologies for the long comment, I’m just passionate about this situation as well.

[@GuilhermeHolz]

Increase the participants to 64, classify 16 to 32 players through the point system and the rest through regional world warrior tournaments.

[@scarlz8719]

I am someone who watched almost every premier from 2010 - 2019, but these days my interest in the scene largely extends to EVO and catching up on vods of Daigo for whatever event I discover he attended. The lack of international players is almost entirely the reason. The CPT is gutted, and Capcom Cup since covid feels more like a glorified end-of-season exhibition than a showdown of the best players that year. It's particularly egregious that winning CC nowadays still seems to be treated as being as prestigious as winning it back in the day.

[@TalicZealot]

It's so strange how as soon as SF6 released Capcom basically went into communication blackout. In the last year of SFV they did multiple talks and a few before SF6 released, then... nothing. No reasoning for the content schedule, no communication about the focus on avatar gear.

[@emperormegaman3856]

Street fighter 5 had such a chaotic history they basically needed to go on damage control regularly. And avatar gear doesn't really require a explanation. They're just much quicker and simpler to do than SF6 characters outfit.

[@user-tzzglsstle585e38]

@@emperormegaman3856 Yeah and to add to that; Avatar/Battle Hub content is simply much less restricted as to what kind of theme or collabs they can do without ruining the actual art direction of the game with ridiculously out-of-character costumes in real matches. They clearly care about that sort of thing now with characters only having costumes that actually fits said character, we won't see megaman Ryu anytime soon let's just say.

[@Boyzby]

@@emperormegaman3856 It shouldn't take a year to get new outfits, regardless of how much simpler it is for avatar outfits. I'm sitting here wanting to give them money and they won't give me the one thing I will actually buy.

[@TalicZealot]

@@user-tzzglsstle585e38 This all sounds reasonable, but they haven't actually said that. We've all been speculating for a year and a half. It would feel better if they said: "Hey right now it's more sustainable for us to be making avatar gear, since a lot of people are buying it. Also here are the reasons we are not focusing on costumes and characters more." When it comes to the CPT they have said absolutely nothing to the community, at least not publicly.

[@user-tzzglsstle585e38]

@@TalicZealot I mean yeah it's all speculation based on their actions, but yeah it'd be better if there's some communication.

[@jayro792]

I think for Capcom, the focus is giving players worldwide from all corners of the globe a chance to qualify with minimal cost to the player (especially in obscure or less developed countries) over making the CPT a spectacle for viewers and top players who can afford to travel.

[@cobaingrohlnovo]

Yeah that’s the problem, should ban all 3rd worlders

[@user-et3xn2jm1u]

For the record we have seen this before, with Starcraft 2. The Korean players were so much better, it was rare for a 'foreigner' to win anything when Koreans traveled. If you wanted to play against the best, you had to go to Korea. And the other scenes suffered because they lacked access to the talent. Iron sharpens iron, and all that. And it was hype when the Koreans showed up! It was hype watching your region try to compete against the best of the best! People don't want to watch a tournament where they know it's the biggest fish in a small pond, even if they're from that small pond. edit: also fwiw to me, "winner becomes a millionaire" doesn't sound hype, it sounds sleazy. The total prize pool is more exciting for me than a big cash payout for #1.

[@themur880]

SC2 had a different problem. Even before covid shut everything down they stole our lunch money so often that people started only tuning into tournaments heavily stacked with koreans and watching nothing else. Because everything else was just us getting our lunch money stolent CTC? Took our lunch money Dreamhack? Took our lunch money GSL v World? Took our lunch money Oh we've got great players in global. But SC2 is such a difficult high skilled game that the paradigm has barely budged an inch in nearly half a decade. People started tuning into nothing but korean events long before they stopped flying out to rob us. When there's a region that's the undeniable best, people start to only care about that. It stops being about anything other than watching something punch up at a final boss they can't possibly beat (unless you're part android like Serral or pure grit like Reynor)

[@yaminegira9239]

its also why when pakistan came into the international tekken scene it was so hype cause it started looking like korea wasnt the best scene. like sure there were a bigger pool of great korean players but seeing pakistan consistently winning was hype af.

[@VoyivodaFTW1]

Imagine how boring Dreamhack would be if Boxer, Nestea, MVP, Marine King, Bomber, MC, and the rest didn’t show up. The Korean players have an entire tv network behind them. StarCraft is a part of their country’s culture. It’s sad to see how bad things haven’t recovered since covid. They’re so much focus on streamlining they all the heart and soul has been sucked out if it

[@whathitwonder4037]

47 minute rant video?! **Grabs Popcorn**

[@dangerouslydubiousdoubleda9821]

The way we fix this is simple. Have more offline tournaments in different regions. Brazil has some absolutely insane players, and they never get a chance to show thier talent because how many CPT majors are being held in South America. and Japan gets fucked over due to being a absolute mine of high talent. This CPT format also punishes consistency. In Season 1, Punk couldn't get in despite finishing bronze in two super majors back to back(EVO and Gamers8) he medaled at two super majors, consecutively, beat multiple world class players, including the best in the world at the time Mena, and still couldn't get into CC. This time he actually won EVO, but the idea you need to win these super stacked high level events when some of the best players in the world are competing instead of rewarding consistency is insane. XiaoHai should be in Capcom Cup AngryBird should be in Capcom Cup Big Bird should be in Capcom Cup Gachi, Kakeru, all manner of Japanese players Ending, etc. This CPT format punishes *consistency at majors(multiple top 8's mean nothing, even though it is showing you can consistently place high at the hardest tournaments in the world, aka world class) *being in a talent stacked, or economically disadvantaged region(or both)(Japan, Brazil, NA East) If you don't get that lucky day where you win a WW instead of placing top 8, fuck you no CC, if your in a stacked region This format excludes a ridiculous number of top talent, and its inexcusable.

[@kennethponce1640]

Yeah probably the best thing Capcom could do is divide regions, make invitationals and full on tournaments in countries at those regions, of course viewership will be low due to the tournaments taking place at different regions at the same time. But you could essentially get an amazing top 5 players in each region well fought over several events. Now that we have teams, stories, protagonists and rivalries (Just like league does) we crash them again each other to fill the Capcom cup spots. Sorry if it sounds strange but as a league player, the pro scene just seems a bit more honest (teams pick their players, train and compete for worlds) Here we can't have teams but at least we could have enough players from each region to fight for their spot.

[@zackswitch9656]

Wah wah wah

[@dangerouslydubiousdoubleda9821]

@@zackswitch9656 Do you have anything to actually add.

[@RmnGnzlz]

The SFV Japan VS The World were the events with the most hype AND highest skill ceiling at the same time, you don't have to choose one over the other. In a logical world all FGC events should be 50% Japan 50% everybody else, because the number 11 that didn't even make it to top 10 in JP is actually better than many top 3 in other regions.

[@a200037]

The problem is that by doing that you are perpetuating that situation. Japan got the initial advantage in fg because of game release dates and arcade culture, but that doesnt mean it has to stay that way forever. If other regions get an equal chance, equal talent will end up sprouting. If you do 50% jp 50% the rest (which would be just na basically) you are taking away the ability to grow up to par for every other region.

[@RmnGnzlz]

@@a200037 Not really. We all get the games on release date now, the gaming culture around fighting games could be bigger in other regions, but it's not. It's a cultural thing, FPS games existed in Japan at the same time as in the US or Russia, but they never exploded in popularity because different cultures have different taste in games. There are just more people in JP that like fighting games even if their population is smaller.

[@ahhhh4723]

​@@a200037 With the end of arcade culture/asynchronous release dates this advantage really isn't a thing anymore and it's only going to depreciate over time. Talent will flourish anywhere there's a dedicated community. Look at the Tekken scene: Korea initially dominated because of those reasons and then out comes Pakistan; now look at how much more diverse the scene is today with Korea Japan and Pakistan trading blows as the top 3 with other regions not trailing too far behind. Now I don't think it necessarily has to be 50/50 for Japan, but 2 guaranteed spots is way too disproportionate for the depth of talent. The point leaderboard system + a select few spots per region just strikes this balance way better

[@kellifizw.8846]

​@@a200037Do u realize how unfair and unjust you sound when you make statement like this? Ppl in JP been grinding days and nights and this system should reward and categorize based on their skill and not by regional quotas.

[@MrYoumitube]

@@a200037 I do not agree, USA has the most tournaments. If I want to be the best basketball player I will go try to play in the NBA, if I want to be the best soccer player I will go to Europe. Japan should always be at the forefront of Street Fighter, they created it and per capita have the best players.

[@jihadao]

I really think Brian is cooking in this video. I'm from Brazil, I don't follow the scene but I used to tune it whenever a famous player would drop by to kick our asses. It was always incredibly seeing how my compatriots would face against the legends of the game. It was a whole event back in the day when Tokido, Punk came to Brazil for wharever reason.

[@Mage_Nichlas_]

James Chen is having to work overtime researching so many players histories to weave a storyline to make people care about the competition at Capcom Cup because nobody is watching the World Warriors. Giving players from all around the world a chance to show up and show off is a great idea but seeing the 2-3 Japanese, 5 Americans, Mena, The Birds, and handful of other known top players absolutely dog on the unknown players isn't making new Mena's that bolster their contries' governments or notoriety.

[@Sapreme]

Storyline matters so much for competitive games. Melee and Broodwar are probably the two longest running esports, and one of the reason why they're still so popular for spectators is because of the storylines. FGC had a really strong player history with Tekken/SF4, and seeing newcomers rise up and shake up the scene was so exciting (Arslan/Smug). Fast forward to SF5, I felt like every tournament had different players in every top8 and nobody was able to build a story or rivaly. It was just dudes playing. It didn't help that everyone and every character felt the same too

[@byVariations]

The rant at 3ish mins in is so funny because people on Reddit think the complete opposite like Japan doesn't have KILLERS in that region. Talking about we should go back to the SFV system where is was 90% Japanese players because legitimately they're just that good. I see why Capcom changed the system to include more regions

[@MrTheTomahawk]

i feel like their goal is just more variety of players. if it is they should have two different cups, or alternate the setup annually.

[@Hazakura-in]

I mean, they managed to just make it mostly american the whole year in the end. So european and japanese don't give a shit and lose interest.

[@zackswitch9656]

No, god

[@matheuszache7943]

Most of your rant stands true for almost every game besides Tekken. I watch MK1 once in a while, I don't remember when was the last time Tekken Master went to an offline event! Strive has also been suffering from this ever since offlines came back. I barely get to see the japonese competition overseas. When one or two get to travel, they do extremely well (Tatuma at evo and Leo at AWT Finals come to mind). Also at Evo Japan, despite some notable USA players going there, and Tempest taking the whole thing, besides him there was just one more non-asian player at top 8 and it was Rang, who's brazillian. It's frustrating cause the majors aren't quite 'majors' anymore, they're regionals with a handful of international talent. No disrespect to them but the main product of a pro tour should be the quality competition, even more so than the variety of regions. The balance is too skeewed to the other side.

[@SonicBoyster]

I'm split. With the old system I felt like I saw the same top 8 every tournament. With the new system I don't see any top 8s because there are so many tournaments I've given up trying to follow them. I feel like the only 'winning' strategy is to let the CPT stuff happen in the background and put our energy into the 'real' tournaments, like CEO/EVO/Frosty Faustings, etc. Make it feel like Evo isn't the only 'international' tournament. Make me excited to put a date on my calendar again.

[@boredomkiller99]

I think there is in general an argument that making CPT the end goal really does hurt the scene and it is something that most other fighting games don't actually struggle with because they don't really have a tour

[@JP_LDN582]

i used to set aside my whole weekend for cpt premier event. good times

[@strayfoxdesigns]

I'd go to work on Monday ranting about how awesome it was too. If I watch them now, I wait until they're mostly over and just skim through

[@Nyagro]

I can speak from personal experience that I was more interested in watching CapCup during the SF5 era despite me not even liking the game compared to now when SF6 has been my main video game to play since release. Really like how you brought it across in the video. Let's hope Capcom hears from this and changes the format for the following years. But that's exactly what we wished for last year as well.

[@whynotsebastian]

Watching this on the bus back to NYC from ECT and it’s hard to describe how a tournament hits way harder when you walk in the venue and see top international talent. Makes you more invested, inspires you, and if you go far or pull off an upset against an international juggernaut it is legitimately hype. Your pride/investment in your local scene balloons BECAUSE your people are winning against top players from other regions. There has to be a way to strike a balance that prioritizes offline international play, and creating storylines/hype from this international competition while still creating avenues for underrepresented regions to compete.

[@Brian_F]

Yo well played, saw you cook on stream

[@stilmaho]

There should be a hybrid system where half of the qualifiers are from WW events and the other half are from the point system that would be the best of two worlds imo

[@frangeek90]

Brian is so right. It is very lame to tune up the latest premier and see that a large part of the bracket is the same people competing every single week at TNS. Keep World Warrior for regional rep, but have the offline premiers have a point system... that motivates people to travel to the events and it's more exciting for the audience as well as we can follow a story, see the path of players fighting for the spots. The current system is either you are first or you are last and that's just not sustainable. I don't think there's any sport that works this way.

[@Alex-oo3jy]

The old format was pay to get in to Capcom cup, only a certain amount of players can afford to travel to all the tournaments and earn points

[@Brian_F]

Many players paid to go to every tournament and failed to qualify. Money was a barrier to entry though agree there.

[@remylebeau34]

On paper if you went to a small tournament locally and won you could earn points and money and be able to go to more, bigger. tournaments but unfortunately people from the best areas with the money and sponsors end up going to those small local tournaments and destroying your chances, to gain more points for themselves. People with less money/opportunities can't even get to bigger tournaments regularly to get the experience they need to compete in the first place, online helps but it can never prepare you fully.

[@antonsundin2974]

Daigo's sentiment is a noble one... but in practice people are losing interest in the scene. Watching a bunch of people you don't know competing in these online tournaments is just not interesting. We all want to watch people we are invested in duking it out, for this reason the only cpt events im interested in this season is EVO, funnily enough the japan online qualifiers and CC itself. I just don't really care about anything else. We need a proper point system back where pros are traveling around the world to offline tournaments again. And to supplement that you can run world warrior events as its own thing and then a day or two before CC cup itself you can run a world warriors offline finals(players gets travel and lodging paid for by capcom) with all the online regional champions where 1-2 spots to the actual cc up is up for grabs. This does not replace the LCQ tournament but is also run alongside it. Anyway this is what i would do if i was in charge.

[@SamuraiBeavs]

I see BrianF video, I click.

[@MrLordofawesomeness]

Me 2

[@MisterTwit]

You have to understand that Daigo is being humble when he says all that stuff about Japan needing to step away so the rest of the world can grow the community. Humility is a part of Japanese culture, you're not going to talk it down, and as goofy as he's gotten over the last few years Daigo is still very, very Japanese. And while I understand what you're saying about interest, you're too focused on "the reward isn't enough". There's an important fact you're glossing over that has made it necessary for Japan to focus on itself and ignore international competition: the economy. I feel like we can't afford to understate how much the weak yen is a big deal in this situation. A lot has changed in the last 3 years; it wasn't just a gradual drop. In 2021 the yen dropped from .0097 down to around .0068, and the top of that was already down from 2012 where it peaked at .0130, and it is _still falling_ (it went down to .0062 this year). That means travel expenses are up, earnings are down, cost of living is a problem for them. Staying home and earning money isn't just better, it's _vital._ How much they would earn from a tournament win isn't even the biggest part of the problem. The problem is their entire life is more expensive now, not just traveling. They can't just get up and go on tour like they used to. It's a mess. So something like Dreamhack where one tournament can help a large number of players, of course it's going to make a difference because the commitment is low. Capcom Cup, with a greater quantity of events and fewer slots, is a much larger investment. And if there's just _one_ thing I disagree with in what Daigo's saying, it's that Japanese pros would travel if the CPT went back to the points system. No, I think the difference in how the CPT works is just an excuse. The truth is they can't handle much travel no matter how it works. They haven't tried doing that in the current economy yet and I am convinced that it will fall flat; they wouldn't be able to maintain it. Things need to get better for the country first. Anyway if you read all that, thanks. I'm old. Have a cookie 🍪

[@boredomkiller99]

Yeah the Japanese economy is truly effed right now and that makes traveling to play a video game that you won't necessarily make money on risky. Another issue is that there really aren't that many sponsors anymore since the E-Sports balloon popped so even more players are paying out of pocket Realistically the best way to make money with fighting games consistently is to stream and make content

[@cheef825]

Agreed. Travel is just less affordable than it was pre pandemic, and the lack of sponsorships just makes it an impossibility. Hot take- this might not be a bad thing. This is the way it used to be, but we need to figure out a way to encourage locals and regionals that can build up regional identity so that people aren't simply looking forward to super premier after super premier. Tldr we need more booce moments

[@BlueShockwave21]

The nostalgic half of me does miss the SF scene when player storylines were easier to follow, but the other half recognizes that was mostly possible because the SF competitive scene was stagnant for so long. I think SF has hit a ceiling in the Japan, US & EU audiences. They need to engage & inspire other regions in order to grow, which is what I think Daigo was getting at. While being familiar with 99% of the Capcom Cup players every year had its charm, that was probably a sign that the tournament was failing to expanding its reach.

[@nickkiller-0710]

The funny thing about current CPT to me is that they gut the entire prize pool to get the 1mi at first place, but by giving a single player 1 fugging million dollars you pretty much make the player retire lol Like I'm not trying to disrespect UMA or anything, but he pretty much showed up outta nowhere, won Capcom Cup, and just vanished off the face of the Earth. It's so lame, I just wish competing was somewhat viable monetarily.

[@boredomkiller99]

Yeah the million dollar thing is hype but long term it hurts the whole scene

[@CF565]

This is such a good point. In what other competitive medium would somebody win the championship then totally dip out immediately after? None! You go back out next year and defend your title! It's such a bad look for the scene that UMA won the first super anticipated mega-purse for SF6, and less than a year later literally nobody talks about him. That's not how you build long-term loyalty and interest in SF as a game and community.

[@evilweevle]

Brian i gotta say that the coverage you provide for tournaments and going into the history behind the players and the "drama" of scores being settled is hands down my favourite content that you produce and every time i see a new one i settle myself down and immediately know im about to watch some awesome content. Ive been playing SF for like 35 years now (only about 15 competitively though) and ive never really been bothered about watching tournament play that much until SF6 came along. Im both playing and watching simultaneously which has never really happened with me before so im really enjoying learning the history and backstory of the players, a lot of whom im already somewhat familiar with over the years ive played these games seriously (since SF4). Keep up the good work fella! Its clear you love doing this kind of stuff.

[@TheKeaver]

I don't watch fighting game tournaments, but I always watch Brian's recaps

[@stanm4410]

I think a good compromise would be to have the region-locked online events continue to be auto qualifiers, but just have fewer of them. If these are the only "all or nothing" qualifiers, they could still be exciting to watch. Then have all the offline events return to a points system, but make it so that only your 3 best placements count for earning points. Then make 1st place at the largest offline events (Evo, Combo Breaker) basically guarantee a spot for Capcom Cup: Like 1st place is 1,000 points, 2nd place is 300 points, 3rd place is 200 points. (So placing 2nd at 3 events is not enough points to overtake the Evo champ). This would make points system still important. And those who haven't won a big tournament are still incentivized to keep traveling to offline events to qualify. Meanwhile the regions that can't afford to travel to as many events still have opportunities through the online qualification events and perhaps could try to make it to at least 3 or 4 events for an opportunity qualify as well.

[@NeoDaOne]

I did think that once Diago was done making his point, it would be FOR going back to the point system. But it came off as him succumbing to "this is the way it is, I guess its okay". your like...wait...no we want it BACK to the previous CPT structure. I get it.

[@mariop8852]

I have not watched a qualifier since they started doing guaranteed placements for a lot of the same reasons you mentioned. The point system itself became a game that that the community could get involved in and even help players choose which events to go. It also encouraged top players to attend small random events that would never see a top player in their town.

[@Tomoka51]

Watching this and reading the comments makes me feel insane for thinking that I actually WANT to see players I have no attachment or prior knowledge of show up in events. I remember watching AWT 2023 Finals and was super stoked to see Verix playing even though I had literally never heard of him before. I want to see more unknown names make it into this world cup-style events, even if they end up getting beaten by players from overall stronger regions it still gives them a chance to represent their region in a world-spanning event. Japan is without a doubt the region with the highest density of highly skilled players, but in absolutely no way does that mean I want to watch a "world" tour where 50% of the bracket or more are all from the same country. Maybe I'm in the minority, but *that* kills my excitement more than anything else. I think what maybe could be done is to increase the number of qualifying slots to 64 (since that neatly halves down to 32, then 16, then 8), keep the World Warrior and a few other premiers to automatically qualify in CPT for winning, and then open the remaining slots to a points system (which would help with seeding anyway and give even players that have qualified a reason to travel) where the top players on the points leaderboard that aren't already qualified can get their spots. Maybe something like 36 from WW, 1 for last year's winner, 1 from EVO, 1 from LCQ, and 1 from some other tournament, maybe something JP based since that *is* where the biggest competition is fiercest, and then the remaining 24 go to Points leaders.

[@Brian_F]

I get the sentiment, but brother i think you need to check Verix's liquipedia leading up to AWT finals. They won't UFA and we're making top 8 at EVO/CEOtaku. They weren't an unknown player that never played internationally

[@Tomoka51]

@@Brian_F I learned that afterwards, sure, but that didn't make my excitement about seeing a player I had never seen before retroactively change. My point in bringing it up was to push against the idea that people only wanna see players they know or players from regions typically known to be competitive in these games. There's obviously something appealing about long-term storylines, rivalries between players that play together constantly, but that's what things like regional tournaments, online tournaments, community events, even *locals* are for. CapCup is a World Cup style event, it's supposed to be a different vibe, a meeting of the very best players from various places around the globe, not all the best players from Japan plus whoever else happens to be able to squeeze in there. At that point you just create the same thing you were complaining about with some of the CPT events in NA being "TNS + a few others" just with a different "group of players that you see play each other all the time + a few others"

[@finalflash98]

Brian: "Doing tricks on it..FACTS" dude amazing

[@misterkeebler]

I agree with all of this. I've attended most CPT Finals events in person since 2014, including for sf5 which i wasnt even a big fan of. Main reason was i was still invested in various player's progress, the storylines, and the rivalries that had built up over the numerous offline events. And sponsors definitely helped the international scene in the sf5 days fwiw. But now despite me heavily favoring sf6 over sf5, i care much less about CPT. As you mentioned, the few offline events we get in the states just feel like watching offline TNS weeklies, and the regionals WW events happen constantly and are hard to track while still not introducing me to the person behind the Online Ken or the Online Juri. So CPT Finals comes and 90% of the strong japanese are absent, while brackets are filled with people im physically seeing for the first time. I still travel to offline events and enjoy games and see friends, but as a spectator it is lackluster.

[@unforgiven3035]

I have to say that its more about the way you look at hype. I understand both sides of the argument. On one hand with Daigo you can see talents from all around the world and people from minor regions can finally see their region, their country represented on stage like a true WORLD WARRIOR type deal. But on the other hand you have Brian here who thinks that the league should give good players more incentive to appear in offline events and have more oppurtunities to actually qualify and appear in the big stage because everyone wants to see thei favourite top players get matched against each other. I do think both sides have a point but I also think it is hard to make both of them true at the same time. UNLESS the World Warrior amount is changed to maybe 1 place per region and then all the other contestants either win tournaments to get a free ticket to Capcom Cup or it is a point system or maybe both can also be done where 1st place gets the spot but other contestants gets points.

[@SkribbleNL]

I agree that at least for EU and NA there is a lot less hype for cpt and the yearly circuit. What I feel like they should have done with the World Warrior format is have the tournament system be the main way to get in CPT by placing you in the final CPT bracket (no groupsstage) Then with World Warrior have a pretournament where they fight it out groupstage style to get placed in the remaining slots in the bracket. It will be less risk to try to qualify directly into the bracket but if you don't have the means to do that, then World warrior gives you a chance to still get in. Which I think also strengthens the storyline of these underdogs fought it out and proved themselves the best but can they hold up to the top SF players in the bracket. The only problem is capcom has to flight out more players but you also get more eyeballs this way and the CPT itself will have to be less days so you can cut some costs that way. Or just take some of that 1 million and put it to better use 😅

[@udderhippo]

Brian, I know you're a busy dude but I think you'd be great at making something like Versus Vortex, but focused on player stories and tournaments. Your vids when you do it already are great, but with a few other people helping and a dedicated space/branding, it could bring to a wider audience what is hype about tournaments that Capcom et al don't really seem to get it. Just look at some of the streamer/vtuber tournament success - the audience gets really invested in the players. People want to see the personalities, interactions, rivalies and player story arcs as well as great games. There's not really a single good place for people to get a window into that, as with more traditional sports.

[@cobaingrohlnovo]

Cause sf6 sucks

[@DiedLiu]

This year I didn't see any local CPT because it's boring and no anyone I know in the match, but I watched every Esports world cup related games, because many player I liked was in here.

[@MarcConcepcion1313]

I immediately got distracted by that giant spider hanging out on the wall above the guitar. What was Brian talking about?

[@BradPrichard]

Full agreement here. One thing that was even more insane about how EWC was presented by some people in the FGC (cough cough Ernesto) gave bigger numbers than 1 million, acting like the club shit meant shit or the entire prize pool.

[@chm2]

I agree with you. When I watch the tournaments, I'm hyped to see Japanese legends like Itazan, Daigo, Fuudo,etc. vs the local talent to gauge if there really is a skill gap.

[@ShinraStyle]

100%, I got into fighting games when sfxt came out. What hooked me on the scene was seeing people from different countries battle it out. I’m from nyc so there a lot of notable players here, but what made me want to go tournaments was seeing people from my city battle and players who traveled here. I used to watch every single tournament just to see a random person beat a Japanese or Korean player. Now, I really only watch Evo or tournaments of that scale to see if it can happen again. I am no where near a top 8 performer but entering a tournament to see if I can win a singular point was a fun little bonus objective that made me enter street fighter. Now i could care less cause I don’t care.

[@ShinraStyle]

While the argument of “Japan to good, let players grow on their own” makes sense on paper, it’s a response of unneeded charity.

[@Skaypegote]

In LoL terms, this would be like if Riot changed worlds so there's only 1 LCK and 1 LPL team. We already KNOW they're the best, we expect them to win, but it's amazing to see just HOW good they are, and when your region actually takes down one of those giants, 1st seed or 3rd seed it feels SOOO good.

[@BurnedRetinas]

I wonder if Capcom is hoping Street Fighter League takes off, but I don't think it is. At least the US branch

[@Hazakura-in]

The reason the US branch isn't taking off is because most offline tournaments are held there already, and thus you see these players all the fucking time. SFL US used to be hype when there used to be tons of overseas players coming in

[@Brian_F]

The biggest issue is pre-recording sfl. It's not fun knowing it's filmed in a week long period and aired over multiple months. There's no actual growth/adaptation between teams over time.

[@BurnedRetinas]

@@Hazakura-in it's just become so milquetoast. And I get it, they're trying to get the personalities over, but the JP SFL has so much energy

[@Hazakura-in]

@@Brian_F Yeah prerecording is kinda dumb, especially in our era where rollback network is incredible

[@BurnedRetinas]

@@Hazakura-in agreed.May as well take advantage of the strong online infrastructure they've built.

[@MPC666]

Groups are horrible to WATCH and what doesn't help is when the matches are split across multiple days. Its such a draining format that by the time you get to brackets, you don't care anymore.

[@dugthefreshest]

I feel like I agree with everything you said, but I also think its ok if Capcom Cup is simply something different. Other tournament series can continue with the standard structure, and I totally understand the prize pools being much much small for these making them not so important. It may not be the best way, but I really do enjoy the tension of the final games. It could be better, but I also enjoy that its unique.

[@taresukkar3217]

BrainF , Im just a casual viewer old guy from the 90s used to play fighting games all of the above. Still pay attention here and there. Only really watch your stream. You have the best news and insight on the fgc on KZbin alongside maxdood. Not trying to blow hot air in your ears just a fact for me. But i cannot agree more, indifference is not only critical in the attention economy but all also my line of work of developing and engineering of consumer products. The moment your engineers or managers stop caring is precisely the same moment your product fails or die and gets taken over by the next thing that those people care more about than your own organisation. Religion, politics you name it. The only reason these human constructs exist to this day is because there are people who care on both sides of the fence. Japanese players organised tournaments before America did. When American had just some gathering at a 7-eleven just getting bragging rights, japan hardly full scale tournaments in exhibition centres. I suggest people to look at jwong channel for old japanese tournament he reviewed. Japans influence on fighting games and video games jn general was paramount to get the games to us and Europe to be a profitable venture.

[@Dylos453]

More offline would be cool. Compromise for local talent would be the top 7 point qualifiers after 4 online region locked tournaments are given a flight to a renown regional tournament to act as the regional finals. All regional finals should have an open bracket LCQ where the winner gets the 8th place allowing for people to snipe the regional spot or for the hometown heroes to defend. If they insist on online, I'd also take a consolation World Invader gimmick. Besides their own region, people can choose 2 other regions they can join throughout the year. This let's other more competitive regions choose to snipe spots from perceived weaker regions. If they win the spot either by 1st place finals or points, their qualification spot gets labeled World Invaded.

[@tamcawam22]

I like SF6 but i don’t even know how to follow it. i watched evo & i watched part of EWC but I usually don’t hear until after the fact. W baseball it’s so much easier

[@eadumm]

not a single person with minimal engagement in competitive aspect agrees with the way capcom manages the competitive scene its as if the NBA instead organized a tournament with all teams from other leagues "to give small teams a chance" and in the end you only get to see 4 or 5 NBA team x NBA team matches + a stupid prize distribution at the end the reason is obvious ... capcom market team thinks this way they get more sales capcom is making sure sf4 hype af era is a distant memory

[@CallsignJoNay]

Pre covid I used to watch every tournament i could. I'd look forward to it all week, and clear my weekend to watch as much as I could from poola to grand finals. Now I only watch Evo and CC. I am indifferent to everything else.

[@alexcabrera2589]

At the end of the day, we need to ask what do we want from Capcom cup. For me that's to see the BEST 32 players in the world play it out regardless of where they are from. No offense, but I don't want to see players from the under represented regions get washed in groups what was the point of them being there?

[@bushmaori]

I'm casual with fighting games but an avid viewer and Brian is just putting into words what I already experienced. As great as SF6 is, I'm just not as invested in watching big CPT tournaments so much because I have no idea who a lot of players are. It's super cool that unknowns can get a chance, yeah, but it feels more like a gimmick via bad planning that's missed the forest for the trees.

[@nobodyinparticular80]

Brian is a natural leader with good ideas and cares about this game. Someone needs to hire him to advise or run this shit.

[@mynameisfury7320]

agree, largely. imagine if all the effort they put into ww streaming was put into a local regional and that regional gave points, then you got ppl from all over with a reason to go and it provides a more clearly observable circuit. i think its great that ppl can qualify from online only but yeah having offline regionals end up the same ppl as online weeklies is kinda wack. it was awesome having daigo, problem x, endingwalker at c3, they even came to the pre party at our local venue and we got to meet and play some of them and itd be even better if even more players came out and if other regions could have those experiences at their regionals too. strengthens the tournament infrastructure and makes those events continue to be valuable outside a pure competition perspective, even for players outside the highest level.

[@Malavander]

The international competition also matches the game thematically. SF has always been about delivering the fantasy of the kumite where fighters from every exotic corner of the globe square off. That said, it is also a Japanese game invented by Japanese people.

[@7mads]

1000% agree, I went from not missing a CPT tournament in the SFV era, to not caring about anything SF6 CPT wise. WW goal is to grow the regions to match Japan, if it works then maybe in 6-10 years we will have a global competition. for us my generation EWC is the present and the future.

[@coreym8145]

we need to go back to how it used to be done. its shocking how capcom have done the pro tour the past few seasons. We need to go back to points and more offline events.

[@Revofev1000]

I think a lot of good points were raised here. What I actually missed though, are some suggestion on, how it could be done better. I think most people are aware that this format is not perfect, but at the same time, it is still an improvement compared to last year. Furthermore, I do not see how Capcom is supposed to backpaddle on the support they have given to new regions around the world, without getting a massive shitstorm. Also, I think the example with the EWC is not really applicable here, because like a twitch comment in the video pointed out, the Saudi government literally paid for the traveling expenses of some players so they never needed to worry about going to a qualifier in the first place. Lastly, I would also like to point out that the financial aspect is a way bigger aspect that some may realise. Living expenses have risen across the board globally. There is a war going on in europe that also caused rippling effects through a lot of european economies and if players have to deal with a rising cost of important goods in their countries, justifying a flight around the world just seems way harder to do, even with a sponsor I believe.

[@marcusoppong1024]

Yeah, cost of travel skyrocketed so traveling is far more of an issue now. When it comes to offline tournaments though, I think 8 like this year is fine, just place one or two in regions like South America or in Eastern Asia where cost of accomodation is significantly lower than in places like the US or Western Europe. Visa is also an problem, so if you live in South America, traveling to a place in South America might be easier too than going to Europe/US in that regard. Give instead of just one then 2 to 4 spots and it'd work out better, including for players of that region. My main complaint when it comes to WW is the bloat: there's way too many regions in my opinion and rarely do tournaments have a 3-digit figure of players. Making regions (like continental) bigger but giving 2 to 4 qualification spots. It should be done uniformly because the lack of consistency (what's a Super Region, which isn't, why does WW count all 5 tournaments for top spot but top 8 only top 3 etc.) is what I often see in chat streams and occasionally even throws players off.

[@dekudakhan]

As a South Asian, I want to see more Japanese representation instead of letting people around the world catchup to them.

[@7xPlayer]

I watch Tekken, and this years tour format(finals format is terrible tho) in Tekken (Offline only, Top1 from 15 regional leaderboards, Top20 from the global leaderboard, Top2 from the LCQ) has been the thing carrying an otherwise horrid game balance and prize pooling. I have seen more internationals and representations this year than previous years, Tekken Master's(a top bahraini NRS player) run against korean and pakistani players in Emirates Showdown in Dubai was hype because there were top players there. Now the format at the finals is TERRIBLE mind you, regionals are in a separate group from the globals, and they're also automatically in losers after the group stage, while globals are in winners automatically, killing any chance to see how they would match up against known top players. The LCQ also includes the group stage losers from both the regional and global rounds robins, leading to repeat match ups that were already seen in the group stage potentially.

[@MAKRA567]

I think the core problem for me is that I only care about an international competitor if they beat someone I recognize to earn a spot. But at the same time, once capcom cup starts, i fundamentally don't care about anyone I haven't heard of before. By the time that the WW qualifiers get an opportunity to fight someone outside of their region, they're already in capcom cup, and they've already lost their chance to win my heart. The WW circuit as it works currently is fundamentally robbing its players of the ability to give me a compelling story. I don't care about "the best German player" because I don't know enough German players, but I would care about a German player that "beat EndingWalker and Problem X to qualify from Europe" for example. Same with anyone from an Asian region beating Japanese players. And if the top representatives of a region get a chance to play against the other regions in their continent and they all lose, then I guess they don't get a slot at capcom cup and that's ok. They got an opportunity and lost. And I WOULD watch a tournament of the top 32 WW contenders from Europe where only 8 get to qualify or something like that. I very much agree that international competition and rare matchups are what makes qualifying tournaments exciting, and this year I didn't see much of that all season outside of EVO. I want to be invested BEFORE Capcom cup starts. I can't just start caring right at the end of the season.

[@b13brink]

didnt even like watching five and I love this game but I literally never have any clue of the narrative about cpt with this game but i usually had the a mid level gist understanding of sfv cpts without even really trying

[@strayfoxdesigns]

I wonder if there could be a fund for international players or even ones that have to travel far. Maybe not for everyone, but if you get top 256 or something, you get part of the fund. Maybe Capcom could give an outfit colour to anyone that pays a few dollars into the fund. Or could just be bonus videos or something. This would be outside the usual payouts for the tournaments. Just something to help top players with travel expenses. I'd pay a few dollars each tournament to see better action. Getting something small out of it would be nice. Tournaments these days are just boring.

[@subterraneanretrogames556]

I love the Diago and Cheez-Its pic 😂

[@alihamza-4812]

You're right. I don't really care about tournaments, even capcom cup, I only usually watch player matches I think might be exiciting.

[@VoyivodaFTW1]

I think since Sony and all the companies got involved, they are focusing so much on streamlining the brand without reinforcing the community and what brings people into the scene. It’s a means to make money for everyone really involved. The company makes money. The content creators make money, the top players are getting hundreds of thousands of dollars but there’s no passion. I’ve watched maybe 3 tournaments this year and I’m on the game training almost everyday

[@theatrociousgod2929]

fan of brian f rants

[@theatrociousgod2929]

hope they change things up next year

[@AB54099]

It was so hype to see tokido an company fly to Australia for BAM. Even if it because that entire cohort in top 8 it was still hype to wonder if any of the oce boys can make an upset.

[@joshuaworden274]

If they just reversed the qualification format of their offline and online tournaments, CPT would be almost perfect. Offline events should reward players based on a points system with a global leaderboard like before. Then, every region should have one World Warrior-style tournament per season that auto-qualifies only the winner. The incentives to travel and support grassroots tournaments come back because the points system rewards consistency. Meanwhile, the online tournaments could stand out and build hype because of the high stakes, almost like a last-chance qualifier. Since their online qualifiers are region-locked, you'd still get representatives from under-supported regions, albeit fewer of them.

[@efnon512]

So it's the CC made ppl mad not daigo. daigo did his best to support younger generation pro gamers (like kawano since SFV) and the FGC imo. In Japan, tournaments collaborate with Vtubers (Each of CR Cup / Shishiro Cup) has way more views than Capcom Cup X top 16. The reason is simple, there are more stories between players in CR Cup. CC needs to bring us stories about those players or they have lost their purpose.

[@LennToTheStar]

One of the reasons is also the boom of vtubers and them being the biggest streamers in Japan. Seems quite a lot of JP pros want to be part of that circle. Not saying it's bad, but it gives them exposure outside of the fighting scene.

[@pokecole37]

Correct! It gets boring watching every bracket be the same stuff.

[@AyoFacio]

It seems like capcom wants to put Street Fighter as the “World’s Fighting Game” the fighting game that will be the one and only at the top of the crop (like how sf4 dominated the genre). I wonder if they were just tired of “Japan is the best at Street fighter”

[@brett824]

I think you forgot one aspect - ECT isn't even TNS + 2 international players... it's TNS + 2 international players MINUS all the people who auto-qualified. Punk qualified at the beginning of the season and now has no incentive to travel to any offline tournament for the rest of the year. At least if I watch TNS I get to see the player who's (among) the best in the world play!

[@TheEleventhdays]

Daigo is being humble and accepting things how they are because that's how the japanese culture is. You're absulutely correct and many people think like you do Brian. Capcom needs to fix the CPT to work more like pre-COVID, while they might have to sacrifice some "weaker" region spots, ultimately, as it stands, those people will be "tricked" into thinking they are on the same level as the strongest regions since they will be thrown into a random drawn group to fight them, but then the harsh truth will be revealed to them who hadn't had any prior international level experience before, that they are simply not at the same level yet, and then they get quickly eliminated and only had an illusion of a chance to win the 1 million dollars.

[@nehylen5738]

This reminds me a bit of what happened with the Starcraft II scene, a decade ago. From what I recall, they effectively restricted Koreans to Korea, so they wouldn't make up 80~90% of the pros on any given Western tournament. In fear of the Western audience losing interest, I assume. It's was a mix of reasons (balance, additions over the next 2 games), but that contributed to the number of spectators' rapid downfall at some point. I stopped watching it myself around that time, so I don't know whether the scene managed to recoup its losses, but watching people who you knew probably wouldn't have made the cut otherwise compete in the finals killed the hype. People wanted to see an improbable upset of a somewhat both lucky & talented player from US/EU vs one of these seemingly flawless Korean players. A possibility which disappeared overnight. The same thing that makes an Evo attendance go: "USA, USA,USA" when an American faces a boss-type Japanese pro (Daigo, Tokido, Momochi, etc...) in top 8.

[@TheVidgamejunkie]

Could it also be that traveling for SF6 is riskier due to the nature of the game and growing parity of the world's top players. In previous games, it was expected that the Japanese players would dominate the top 8 and also win it all. Starting in SFV it was growing apparent that the Japanese players were having a harder time winning. Sure, points system helped them out but that's a question of quantity rather than quality? Now in SF6, everyone is calling it a "volatile" game so the risk of not winning is even worst, so not worth it to travel anymore.

[@chrisludwig4729]

Japan only getting 2 slots is a joke. It was a freaking joke last year too. Capcom has killed the hype of their own cup because they're trying to artificially build markets instead of letting us watch the absolute best go at it.

[@Moonaticc]

It is funny that you mention the olympics because the olympics, by having an American manager for decades, were organized in such a way that it would favor having a lot of sports the US government was incentivizing and investing, making US medals incredibly disproportionate! But ironically, that makes the upsets of smaller countries and each and every single medal they earn feel more valuable (specially locally and regionally) because they won even if it was stacked against them! It is so shocking to me how BADLY run the WW tournament is. Instead of actually giving the chance to under represented regions to make their players known, is a bunch of difficult to access, poorly marketed online tournaments who nobody watches *and* on top of that, the region distribution is absolutely WHACK, like why is france a region, then another region for Spain and Portugal, and then another region for Uk and Ireland. Those regions are not proportionally equal in sizes geographically or in population and community in comparison to Japan or Brazil, and they have 6 fucking qualifying spots! Why not make one region for western europe and one for eastern europe and issue resolved! Why is the US split into 3 regions names US DESPITE HAVING OTHER COUNTRIES IN IT, and then Brazil just being 1 region? Why is AFRICA an entire CONTINENT one region it does not make any sense It is vastly underepresenting the best region in the world, and certain regions with smaller communities get their hype ruined by not getting international competition even with their close neighbors (such as western europe) and being over represented, and poorer regions get screwed because you get too little spots for such a big amount of space AND population! I think its great that they have this idea but Tekken did it better, specially considering there is the Pakistani scene which is striving despite their conditions. You CAN have your cake and eat it too, you CAN have a point qualifier system with a bunch of big and small regional and international tourntaments, which promotes the local scenes and incentivices international play, and then you can also have a bunch of offiline premiers and your own online ran tournaments which are simply worth more! This system is whack! And is hurting under represented regions!

[@MarkoLomovic]

One small nation? Japan population is something like 130mil.

[@1e0isfdkorblpg]

of people mostly over 60. And in comparison is tiny to most of the world.

[@67awesomekid]

world warrior events could bring a versus spin to it like the OG SF. have a qualifier tournament that allows two or (or more for smaller regions) to compete for a spot. JP vs china , JP vs NA., na Es vs NA west. historic rivalries from other walks ogf life get the fans more invested and also allow more competition.

[@Rc-yd5hh]

But the Capcom Cup final gets more attention with the new format, because there’re representatives for more countries for them to root for., that’s what Diago meant.

[@TheVidgamejunkie]

I do agree that CPT has lost touch with its audience. Like, I was ecstatic that Capcom Cup was in Japan this year, then they announced the ultimate let down by saying there would be no LCQ this year. That completely deflated me, lol. LCQ IN JAPAN would have been amazing.

[@anikami2019]

Brian, what about this More offline premiers. Maybe 10-12 or so Bring back the points system. First place still auto qualifies Winning online events gets you a free trip to an online premier. Not guaranteed to go to CapCup but a chance to prove yourself offline. Place high enough and you may get enough points to still qualify

[@TheVidgamejunkie]

So basically it's only interesting to watch if everyone has to run the Japanese gauntlet 😂.

[@TheShotgunShovel]

Japan has always had more higher skilled average players. They: •Share more tech with each other. •Have way more locals than say, a big city does in the west And the most important reason... •They usually don't have the scrub mentality of dropping the game when they get destroyed for the first time, like the west does, particularly America. They actually persevere. Used to be that none of the pros wanted to help the lesser players get better at the game too, but we've definitely gotten better in that regard.

[@-toadstoolicious-9851]

Been saying this since the last CC. CC now is not about the real top players of SF playing against each other. It's about giving the other regions a chance to play and win the CC. They want to expand the playerbase throughout the globe. If they were to bring the old format back it wold definitely be mostly Japanese. Not necessarily a bad thing though since most Japanese players have a fan base all over the world.

[@Billyfulu]

BrainF spitting facts!!! Hopefully Capcom reconsider and change the format. Winner takes all is really dumb!!!

[@quad355]

I think old format would be better as it is like a league in qualification, right now it would be more interesting on qualification as best on this day will get through, as for the capcom cup i don't think best will be there , the best on each tournament will qualify.

[@HuyTran]

Thanks for making this Brian, I hope it gets to the right people.

[@Aware_Wolf_X4]

The way I look at the Japanese player pool. Imagine all the top players in both North and South America, now have them all live in California. I don't think there's a way to put Japan's population density into perspective for a lot of Americans.

[@lckfan3696]

Next capcom cup should be only in person events. Idc about anything online, most people dont. I really dont care about each region having representation, I just want to see the best matches.

[@Malavander]

Top heavy price structure has been a grievance in many many esports for ages. I'm sick of hearing the excuse that the big top prizes draw interest. It's such short-term-minded stupidity and not sustainable.

[@luce1746]

The thing is, Capcom cares more about players (which according to the video are at a high point) because thats what makes them money. Ewc is about viewership and pr, so theyre going to sink money into incentivisizing that, to the benefit of Capcom as well.

[@taresukkar3217]

A good example to compare this to is the olympics. A event that is watched around the world countries fight over it to host it to advertise their country. Athletes get below 100000Usd.

[@heapski5455]

While I agree it’s just less interesting that international competition is becoming less common, it should be noted that Americans have never travelled in numbers to events outside of North America (outside of evo Japan) even when there was an incentive to do so.