TEKKEN Pro Players seemingly on the verge of dropping out as "TEKKEN World Tour's" prize money reaches an unsustainably low amount

[Dreamboum]

Despite ever-increasing sales, entrants and viewership, the prize pool of the Tekken World Tour (TWT) was cut in half this year, reaching an amount so low it makes the grinding necessary to qualify a preposterous proposition for people to make up what they lost participating.

Rangchu, the surprise winner of TEKKEN World Tour's finals (with Panda!), has received ($7,500) for his year-long effort. This means there is a chance that the prize money doesn't even cover the costs of his travels to qualify for TWT. The prize money was itself cut in half from last year ($15.000).

In comparison, Capcom Cup had a $120.000 prize pool for the winner of the Capcom Cup.

As the third season of TWT has been announced, Namco Bandai could definitely ramp up the prize pool in the same way Capcom does. Such as DLC that goes towards the prize pool, offering enticing rewards on top of benefitting the people who works hard to put Tekken on the map. Many people would be more than happy than to crowd-fund for the prize pool and make such an entertaining year-long event as best as it could be. Not only that but Tekken could benefit from costumes and other pieces of content, as most nostalgia costumes are inexplicably missing from the game.

Namco should rethink their strategies and offer something to make it more enticing. I really like TWT and I don't want to see it die because the prize money isn't worth the effort. I'd definitely put more than 50€ easily, the amount of entertainment I get out of the World Tour more than makes up for it

Inspired by these posts


https://www.reddit.com/r/Tekken/comments/a4srz0/next_years_twt_is_looking_more_and_more_precarious/

 

[Chindogg]

Source for any of this?

 

[Mifec]

Source for any of this?

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Yeah i'm surprised no links are being posted.

 

[TheInfinityGauntlet]

Considering how well it's done and how the EVO participants went up (the only game to do that at EVO this year) it's disgusting that Bandai Namco can't up the ante a little, the pros deserve so much more respect and deserve to earn a decent amount of money even if you're not rocking up first

The whole TWT was great and it'll be a crushing blow to both Tekken and fighting games as a scene if we don't get that again

I'd happily buy customisable items if I knew a decent amount (read: more than 50%) of the proceeds were going towards a prize pool and I'd happily spend a silly amount of money if they did something like DOTA 2's battlepass system (but for the whole year/tour)

 

[Kalentan]

Yeah i'm surprised no links are being posted.

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The title made it seem like it was an article.

 

[Dreamboum]

Sorry, I accidentally posted the thread before I finished making it

https://tekkengamer.com/2018/10/25/...sponsorship-tekken-world-tour-and-his-future/



It has been a discussion going around for a few months but it seems to have reached sort of a breaking point these past few days

 

[JusDoIt]

Need to get on that SFV advertisement hustle.

 

[Eolz]

Oh damn. It seemed that the scene was more popular than ever, didn't think that the prizes were cut compared to before.

 

[Chindogg]

Need to get on that SFV advertisement hustle.

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It helps that Sony's funding the CPT.

Big prize pools will always have some major corporation funding it. Everyone wants League of Legends without realizing that a major Chinese conglomerate pushes the esports division with tons of cash.

 

[JusDoIt]

It helps that Sony's funding the CPT.

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Sony didn't sponsor CPT this year.

 

[Chindogg]

Sony didn't sponsor CPT this year.

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Interesting, must be from Razer then.

$120k is a significant sum for a company to drop. Most won't do it.

When they should actually be wanting DOTA2 which has infinitely higher prizepools than LoL. It's actually sad how low lol prizepools were compared to how big it is.

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Dat Compendium money lol.

 

[Mifec]

Everyone wants League of Legends without realizing that a major Chinese conglomerate pushes the esports division with tons of cash.

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When they should actually be wanting DOTA2 which has infinitely higher prizepools than LoL. It's actually sad how low lol prizepools were compared to how big it is.

 

[Hanbei]

Like it has been said on r/Tekken, many people would be glad to support Bandai Namco in increasing the prize pool by buying cosmetic DLC (or any other similar product). It is entirely up to them, but they really have to be aware that if more and more pro players consider NOT entering TWT, then Tekken's e-sports presence might just die.

A shame, since TWT 2018 increased in viewership compared to 2017, but the same viewership could drastically drop if the aforementioned pro-players do not enter the tournament. I tweeted Harada about this earlier today (I know he doesn't respond but he reads as many tweets as he can) so hopefully Bandai Namco's attention will be drawn and maybe, maybe they'll do something about it.

 

[asd202]

Interesting, must be from Razer then.

$120k is a significant sum for a company to drop. Most won't do it.

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Capcom is putting money into e-sports that's why. Also Qudans dropping out? Damn that would be a huge loss.

 

[Deleted member 36578]

Is the prize pool low because the low numbers of entrants? I know I'm outta the loop of the tourney scene, but back in my day the prize pool was built using the entrant fees. I know nowadays companies put their own money into tournaments but maybe Namco Bandai doesn't do that. It's not in their advertising budget or something.

 

[Deleted member 1589]

They should REALLY follow Dota's International model. It's pretty much a win win situation.

 

[Chindogg]

They should REALLY follow Dota's International model. It's pretty much a win win situation.

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If they can find a way to make all of China and most of Europe buy a costume pack maybe.

 

[JusDoIt]

Interesting, must be from Razer then.

$120k is a significant sum for a company to drop. Most won't do it.

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It's from a few different sources I think. Corporate sponsors, Capcom's own investment, DLC fundraising, and maybe even TV deals.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Interesting, must be from Razer then.

$120k is a significant sum for a company to drop. Most won't do it.

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Capcom also releases special costume and stage packs in which 70% of the money from that is put into the prize money for the Pro Tour.

 

[CountAntonio]

Crowdfunding tournaments is the future for this stuff. Sponsors and publishers want to push new games. Let the community dictate a competitive games future.

 

[Chindogg]

It would be really interesting to see the actual sales of the CPT costume packs.

I just don't realistically see that primarily funding $120k a year.

 

[Hanbei]

Is the prize pool low because the low numbers of entrants? I know I'm outta the loop of the tourney scene, but back in my day the prize pool was built using the entrant fees. I know nowadays companies put their own money into tournaments but maybe Namco Bandai doesn't do that. It's not in their advertising budget or something.

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No, not at all. There has been more entrants this year than last year, so this is not the issue.

 

[Kaguya]

Interesting, must be from Razer then.

$120k is a significant sum for a company to drop. Most won't do it.

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Capcom tour seems to be fully self funded somehow that Capcom is making money out of their esport business now according to their last financial report. It's not just the 120k, the whole 600k + the expenses of the events they run and production team. Which is quite impressive with how small the scene is compared to other big esport games.

 

[Neoxon]

Capcom also releases special costume and stage packs in which 70% of the money from that is put into the prize money for the Pro Tour.

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But that's on top of the existing $600k prize pool plus whatever they spend to run the CPT.

Either way, Tekken 7's a great game that deserves a great esports circuit. Hopefully Bamco steps up their game on this front sooner rather than later.

 

[Cordy]

Ah, yeah whatever it takes to pay the players who support this great game then do it.

 

[Namtab]

Namco has no excuse not putting as much money as Capcom to their pro tour, especially as Tekken 7 outsold SFV and Bandai Namco are wealthier than Capcom.

 

[JusDoIt]

It would be really interesting to see the actual sales of the CPT costume packs.

I just don't realistically see that primarily funding $120k a year.

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The DLC alone brings in over $100k to the prize pool. It nearly pays for first prize every year.

https://blog.us.playstation.com/201...lists-to-compete-for-prize-pool-of-over-370k/

A while ago there was a Capcom financial report that showed how much money they expected to MAKE from the Pro Tour. Having a Pro Tour shouldn't be seen as an investment to sell more copies. The Pro Tour itself is a product just as much as SFV is.

 

[demondance]

I don't get how they decided to do a CPT style World Tour without also doing DLC that funds the tour, like CPT does.

 

[Chindogg]

The DLC alone brings in over $100k to the prize pool. It nearly pays for first prize every year.

https://blog.us.playstation.com/201...lists-to-compete-for-prize-pool-of-over-370k/

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That's crazy. I didn't think anyone spent this much on SFV.

 

[Kaguya]

The DLC alone brings in over $100k to the prize pool. It nearly pays for first prize every year.

https://blog.us.playstation.com/201...lists-to-compete-for-prize-pool-of-over-370k/

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It doesn't pay for it, it's added bonus to the prize.

 

[JusDoIt]

That's crazy. I didn't think anyone spent this much on SFV.

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I'm almost certain that SFV is the most profitable title in the series since SFII off of DLC alone. Capcom makes A LOT of expensive (to produce) DLC for the game. They wouldn't be doing that if it didn't sell well.

 

[sibarraz]

Only $7,500? SNK poverty as fuck world tour gave the same prize for KOF 14, there is no excuse from Bamco's part, unless somehow season 2 sales were super bad

 

[SolidSnakex]

But that's on top of the existing $600k prize pool plus whatever they spend to run the CPT.

Either way, Tekken 7's a great game that deserves a great esports circuit. Hopefully Bamco steps up their game on this front sooner rather than later.

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For sure there's already a large prize pool even before the DLC kicks in. But that's something that Capcom feels is worth investing in to keep their community engaged in the game. I was actually watching a video from Sajam a few days ago and he spoke about how every fighting community other than Street Fighter kinda feels like the "red-headed stepchild". And I think a big part of that is down to Capcom always taking care of that community. So NAMCO's at a point where they've got to decide whether they want to take care of their community.

 

[GLHFGodbless]

The prize pool for TWT was embarrassing for how well Tekken is doing these days. Just release all the cosmetics from Tekken 5 and 6 that should of been i the game from day 1, in a big pack and give some of the funds to the TWT. There are so many ways to up the prize pool but Namco just twiddles their thumbs . It's super frustrating.

 

[Chindogg]

For sure there's already a large prize pool even before the DLC kicks in. But that's something that Capcom feels is worth investing in to keep their community engaged in the game. I was actually watching a video from Sajam a few days ago and he spoke about how every fighting community other than Street Fighter kinda feels like the "red-headed stepchild". And I think a big part of that is down to Capcom always taking care of that community. So NAMCO's at a point where they've got to decide whether they want to take care of their community.

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Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeh lol.

There's various reasons why other communities are red-headed stepchildren to Capcom fighters. That sentiment's been around long before esports came into the picture.

The prize pool for TWT was embarrassing for how well Tekken is doing these days. Just release all the cosmetics from Tekken 5 and 6 that should of been i the game from day 1, in a big pack and give some of the funds to the TWT. There are so many ways to up the prize pool but Namco just twiddles their thumbs . It's super frustrating.

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Frustrating for who? Are you competing in these?

I want TWT to succeed and players to be able to attend too, but 'frustrating' is a weird choice of words.

 

[Popetita]

Sucks because I've read Tekken 7 is a great gane for eSports.

 

[Neoxon]

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeh lol.

There's various reasons why other communities are red-headed stepchildren to Capcom fighters. That sentiment's been around long before esports came into the picture.

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But Bamco & others could do more to change that, to be up there with Street Fighter in the esports scene. L

Sucks because I've read Tekken 7 is a great gane for eSports.

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I know, right? The game is awesome to play & watch.

 

[GTOAkira]

For a big final event where you had to grind the entire year to qualify 7k is nothing. 7k is actually what you get for winning a cpt premier event. Its weird since namco and capcom both have the pro players license. Tokido made 50k by winning Japan Cup a cpt premier event. Namco has the money for sure so Im curious to know why they dont put to much into the tournament scene

 

[Chindogg]

But Bamco & others could do more to change that, to be up there with Street Fighter in the esports scene.

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Yes and no. There's a lot more going on behind the scenes than just money in esports.

And believe it or not, esports isn't the end all-be all for the FGC.

 

[Neoxon]

Yes and no. There's a lot more going on behind the scenes than just money in esports.

And believe it or not, esports isn't the end all-be all for the FGC.

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I'm not saying it is, just that more can be done to support the scene.

 

[Ferrio]

Ya the winnings in the FGC is a pittance compared to most Esports. There's no way that's sustainable for competitors unless they got some heavy sponsorships. The companies trying to ride the Esports wagon but don't wanna put respectable money into the pot are really doing a disservice to the community.

 

[jakoo]

You would think Bandai Namco would be doing more to prop up the tournament scene considering how much of their business is in fighting games. Between Tekken, Soul Calibur, Dragonball Fighterz and Smash, you would think they would have a more focused and concerted effort in investing in eSports and trying to find synergies between the different games. It's wild that there is a "Capcom Cup" when Bandai Namco is really seems to be the most prolific publisher in the genre currently.

Personally, Tekken 7 is one of the few games I actually have sat down and watched tournaments on Twitch for, and that's pretty impressive because I've only played the game a handful of times. It must speak to the quality of both the play and the production, and it would be a shame if it diminished over time.

 

[Ninjimbo]

I'm surprised it's so low. I knew the CPT offered a hell of a lot more money than TWT, but not like 20x more lol.

Suddenly I don't feel bad about JDCR getting the fuck out of this game. Namco doesn't deserve their great players. Guys like Knee and Qudans put so much of themselves into the game and if that's going to be payout, it simply isn't worth it.

It's unfortunate because I've developed a soft spot for the Tekken community and all its personalities this past year. I would hate to see it go.

 

[ThatMeanScene]

Capcom has been reliably securing sponsors for the Capcom Pro Tour thoughout SFV's life and that's probably how they're funding the CPT production and prize pool. Sony was probably a huge source of funding in 2016 and 2017 as their branding as everywhere. Twitch was also a prominent sponsor in 2016 and 2017 (I still remembering those boring ads). This year their sponsors are Razer, Vertagear, Victrix, and Arcade 1up; they must've been sufficient to replace the Sony and Twitch sponsorships. Note that Capcom always lists the current sponsors on the CPT site.

To my knowledge the Tekken World Tour has secured fewer sponsorships which probably explains the smaller prize pool. Their only listed sponsor in 2018 was Twitch. That's probably the issue. Maybe it will change in 2019 considering how strong the 2018 tour ended. I'm sure there are folks like MarkMan trying to work their magic for next year's tour.

 

[skillzilla81]

Capcom has been doing this for almost 10 years now.

Other devs didn't start until this generation.

 

[ZangBa]

$7500 God damn that is some poverty ass shit. Not worth the carpal tunnel risk from practicing some of those combos and movement. I had to give up Tekken because Lee b2 loops were killing my wrists.

 

[OhSatan]

Sure make the spectators pay the pool.....

Bamco should invest their wealth in this and give back not taking the easy way out putting the burden on dlc sales or specials.

That the first thing a lot of user jump is "let us pay you do nothing big corp is sickening"

 

[Deleted member 5593]

Bamco should invest their wealth in this and give back not taking the easy way out putting the burden on dlc sales or specials.

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Oh my sweet summer child...

 

[skillzilla81]

Sure make the spectators pay the pool.....

Bamco should invest their wealth in this and give back not taking the easy way out putting the burden on dlc sales or specials.

That the first thing a lot of user jump is "let us pay you do nothing big corp is sickening"

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Yeah, the game has continued to sell well. Enough that theyre doing more dlc. It's silly to think they couldn't fund their own tournament series.

 

[Greenzxy]

Exactly, 120,000 is chump change for a company like Namco/Capcom. You can easily make that up with 2,000 Games sold, or 4,000 to make up for retailer cost.