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• 2020-05-04

  The Effects of COVID-19 on the Fighting Game Community

  Fighting games are an odd case when considering video games as a whole. Most of the gaming community has matured alongside the internet and as such resides within it, bringing together people from all across the globe and creating friendships that would never be possible otherwise. This pandemic is the perfect time for these games to help bring people together, allowing people to escape from the chaos of the world and find companionship online in anything from a team based shooter that allows one to spend time with their friends like Valorant to an entire social platform with digital bars, movie theaters, and conventions like VRChat. Fighting games, however, were born in an era of arcades, and their very nature brought people together, first as competitors and then as friends. In-person competition and open tournaments that give anyone a chance to win are a vital part of what the fighting game community, or FGC, is. Three years ago was my first real introduction to the FGC in the form of my high school’s gaming club. There we played a variety of games, the main one being Super Smash Bros. Two years ago I was running the club, organizing tournaments and large events, and occasionally going to local tournaments with cash prizes. This past year, I began attending Arizona State University and was going to the college’s large biweekly tournament as often as I could. The reason for me going to and organizing these sorts of events is not because I can win them; I am by no means great at fighting games. What matters most to me is the community they offer. I have made friends through these games, and while I do simply enjoy playing them, meeting new people through them is equally as important to me. Three months ago, soon before the pandemic became widespread and the world locked down, I began becoming more involved than ever in the FGC. I went to multiple state-wide tournaments and started becoming good friends with the other people that attended. However, life got busy and right before the pandemic I stopped going, figuring there was no reason to worry about it since I could always just go another time. COVID-19 has now removed that option, so I ended up missing out on one of the last chances I had to spend time with these friends before I was cut off from them. Now people are forced to play these games online, which not only means that a huge amount of the community aspect is lacking, but also that players are forced to deal with online systems that were designed as a secondary option to local play. The largest fighting game tournament in the world, the Super Bowl of the FGC, is being forced to move online, and not one of the games it planned on running has a good online system. I worry the effect this will have on the scene, as it will not only be a terrible experience for those participating, but will show off these games at their worst and may very well harm the reputation of the FGC. The poor state of these games’ online systems and lack of community has also made many lose their passion for the games they care so much about. Personally, my excitement about getting into the community more has been massively stunted, and I have been spending far less time practicing the games than I would like despite an abundance of time. While the pandemic has been harmful to the community as a whole, if that was the only issue then everything could likely bounce back to normal after the virus has been stopped. However, the largest dangers to the FGC are financial ones. These events already run with very slim profit margins, and so this pandemic has harmed the tournament organizers that had scheduled an event during the crisis the most. Venue and hotel expenses had already been paid, and so organizers were forced to either try to run events that they knew would potentially infect people or take huge financial hits. In the words of Alexander Jebaily, “If I cancel by my own choice, instant bankruptcy.” In my own area, the company that does the most to host events and support others, SAK Gaming, was forced to abandon the venue they had been using for years, a place that was dear to the hearts of much of the community, with some seeing it as their second home. I had never gotten around to going to a tournament there, and now I’ll never be able to have that experience in a place that was so special to many. I don’t know what’s next for the FGC. While some events will certainly be able to spring back, others are most likely canceled forever. I can certainly hope that everything will return to normal, but just as with every other aspect of society, some things will likely be changed forever.