We knew it was coming didn’t we? With the success of the Capcom Pro Tour (Yes, putting a fighting games viewership in the top 5-10 of Twitch is a big success) and NRS’s relative success with their tournaments and partnership with ESL, that other fighting games would follow suit, and The King of Fighters XIV has done just that, announcing three events for a King of Fighters World Championship, this month alone. Whether or not this will become a name “King of Fighters” Tour or something similar isn’t yet known, but what seems certain is that there will be more qualifier opportunities for perspective attendants to the World Championship.

The qualifiers will be international events, featuring some big name players from China, Peru and Japan, including King of Fighters legend, Romance, Soe and Oda. A big question that this raises is whether or not the King of Fighters series can get back to the level of popularity it had before it’s long hiatus and SNK’s departure from the digital fighting game scene. If there is any game that can theoretically match the Capcom Pro Tour’s success it would be the flagship title of their rivals of old SNK, but they’ll have much work to do to make that happen.

All of the KOF WC Qualifier Action will be broadcasted on Twitch and Doyou for easy viewership. Will you be following the King of Fighters action? Do you think it has the potential to match the popularity and viewership of the Capcom Pro Tours multi-major League system? Or do you think that King of Fighters has missed it’s shot at becoming the arcade powerhouse it once was? Either way the King of Fighters World Championship will indicate much about the possible E-Sports life and interest in the game.

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