Fighting games are an industry so prominent that even non-players of the community know of their presence. Titles such as “Street Fighter,” “Tekken” and, of course, “Mortal Kombat” are icons in the gaming community, especially the Fighting Game Community (FGC), which, as the name suggests, is a community dedicated to fighting-based games. In just one month, one of the biggest fighting game tournaments will occur.
Community Effort Orlando (CEO) will hold its 15th annual fighting game tournament June 14-15. The event will be held in Orlando, Florida at the Rosen Shingle Creek. CEO gained popularity within the video game community for its fighting game-focused tournaments and earned its place among one of the biggest video game tournaments of the year. As this year’s tournament approaches, many FGC fans, or even fans of gaming at all, are left excited to see what CEO has in store, while many professional players are on their toes for the upcoming competition.
“As I got older, my cousins introduced me to Tekken,” Jaywone Yi, a senior and avid gamer, said. “And I remember my early memories were playing on the PlayStation 2, I think it was Tekken Tag Tournament with my father, and I also found myself really liking that in general.”
The tournament will feature many standard fighting games, such as “Street Fighter 6” and “Tekken 8.” But, it will also have divisions for much older games like “Street Fighter II” and “Super Smash Bros. Melee.” The tournament will also include many competitive games, which don’t normally involve themselves with the FGC, such as dancing games like “Dance Dance Revolution A3” and “StepManiaX.” However, one of the more surprising entries in this year’s CEO lineup is the introduction of a Beyblade circuit, centered around the toy franchise’s most recent series, “BeybladeX.”
Surprisingly, this wouldn’t be new to people who follow CEO, since they held Beyblade tournaments in the past in their side event, “CEOtaku.” However, since the brand is now able to branch itself into the main event, CEO, there is no doubt that it will attract many new fans and competitors to the tournament this year.
One of the most appealing aspects of CEO is the fact that it is an open tournament, meaning that nearly anyone can sign up, so long as they meet certain requirements. This gives many people a chance to show off their skills at the tournament without having to go through any previous prerequisite to qualify. Participants are also able to win a cash prize if they place high enough, with last year’s tournament, CEO 2024, having an official prize pool with a distributed amount of $12,390 for its “Tekken 8” division.
But it’s not just the prizes alone that attract players; it’s the benefits toward their careers. Depending on the division a player chooses, they are able to win points based on how well they place. Points help determine a player’s ranking within the FGC, which provide them with an opportunity to gain traction for themselves for community popularity, and even possible recruitments from official esports teams.
CEO can also benefit players’ careers by giving them the chance to qualify for other tournaments. For example, in its 2025 competition, “Street Fighter 6” division will give its 1st place winner an official qualification for the “Capcom Cup 12,” and “Esports World Cup 2025 (EWC),” with both tournaments providing a bigger audience and an even bigger prize pool.
Because of this factor, many players see CEO as a stepping stone toward potential professional careers in esports, and with it getting bigger every year, more and more people continue to get interested in the sport.
CEO provides many newcomers with an opportunity to step into the professional field of esports, while also providing spectators with many fun and competitive competitions to watch.
“It’s just seeing the combination of like practice of like such specific inputs and techniques in all these games,” Yi said. “It’s just the fact that things like [Daigo Parry] can happen, such cool feats players can pull off, and such close fights, that’s what makes them so exciting and interesting to view and participate in.”
