Esports: Pakistan's Arsalan Ash Wins Tekken7 Championship in Florida

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan's Arsalan Ash defeated the “hometown” American hero Hoa “Anakin” Luu in a thrilling Grand Finals set to win first place in Tekken 7 at CEO 2021 in Florida. Arsalan won every single match without dropping a single game. This came against some of America’s top players, including EVO 2021 Online champion Marquis “Shadow_20z” Jordan. Known for his ability to use several different characters, Arslan Ash stuck with Zafina for the entirety of the CEO 2021, according to a report in EsportsTalk. 

Arsalan Ash Siddique at CEO 21 Game Competition in Florida. Source:...

CEO 2021 was the first major fighting game tournament since the start of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The victory is Arslan Ash’s first major win in the United States since his memorable performance at EVO 2019 in Japan. It is also the second offline event he has won in 2021 after taking 1st at WePlay Ultimate Fighting League last April. 

Prior to the latest win at CEO 21, Arslan Ash Siddique won three top ESports awards, including Player of the Year award for 2019, according to ESPN.com. In December awards, Aslan Ash won the Best Esports Player award under both the fan and ESPN choice categories. He was also the first-runner for Best Moment of the Year award in the fan poll. The nomination was based on his EVO wins.

Arslan Ash Siddique at EVO Japan 2019

Esports have risen to the level of other major international sports with multiple international tournaments. The total prize money in international tournaments now exceeds a billion US dollars. Esports leagues have sprung up in many countries including Pakistan. Esports Pakistan (ESPK) is a growing E-Gaming organization which organizes national esports competitions at its Gaming Arena at Royal Palm, Lahore.

Arslan put Pakistan on the esports map following his surprise first-place victory in Tekken 7 at EVO Japan 2019 and EVO 2019. Before October 2018, Ash, the Pakistani Tekken 7 phenom, had never competed in a major international tournament. Now, at the end of 2019, he is an international star and the only person to ever win the Evolution Championship Series Japan and its American counterpart in  Las Vegas the same year.

Arslan is not the only successful Pakistani esports competitor on the world stage. Karachi-born Pakistani Syed Sumail Hasan, 19, is the world's youngest video gamer to surpass $1 million in earnings in esports. In fact, he has earned $3.6 million so far as an international Dota 2 player, ranking him the 10th biggest winner in the world, according to esportsearnings.com website which tracks players' earnings. Sumail started playing Dota 2 at the age of 7. He now lives in a Chicago suburb as a permanent resident of the United States.

Syed Sumail Hassan

Arsalan Ash Siddique, 23 years old player from Lahore, Pakistan, caused a stir in Fukuoka Japan when he defeated the world's top players to win EVO championship in February, 2019, according to Asahi Shimbun. In his victory speech, Arslan acknowledged many unknown Pakistani players who are also quite strong but could not join the competition because they could not get the visa to travel to Japan.

It wasn't easy for Arsalan to reach Japan to participate in the contest. He had to jump through many hoops and travel through several transit countries each of which made it difficult for him. When he arrived at Haneda airport in Japan,  he only had Pakistani rupees and no exchange would accept them. Hungry and tired he tried his luck at the food court but no one would accept the Pakistani currency. His next flight was from Narita airport an hour away by public transport. To travel he needed to buy a ticket but did not possess any local currency, according to SBS Urdu.

Arsalan Ash Siddique (Center)

Arsalan was exhausted and ready to give up his dream when he finally got through to his Japanese sponsors who helped him out. Needless to say he got no help from Pakistani diplomats through his challenging journey.

In spite of visa denials and other travel challenges faced by Pakistani players, the country ranks 25th in the world for players' earnings in 2019, according to esportsearnings.com.  Ranked above Pakistan are  mainly rich industrialized nations from North America, Europe and East Asia. All South Asian nations rank below Pakistan. Players from India rank 63rd, Sri Lanka 98th, Afghanistan 108th, Bangladesh 115th and Nepal 123rd.

Here's a video of Arsalan's competition at CEO 2021 Finals in Florida:

https://youtu.be/6rHhR78tbD0

https://www.youtube.com/embed/6rHhR78tbD0"; title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>" height="315" src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" width="560" style="cursor: move; background-color: #b2b2b2;" /> 

 Related Links:

Haq's Musings

South Asia Investor Review

Pakistani Esports Player Among World's Top Earners 

Mobile Game Industry in Pakistan

Pakistani Investors: Invest in Local Tech Startups

Invest in Pakistan Summit in Silicon Valley

Upwardly Mobile Pakistani-Americans

Upwardly Mobile Pakistan

Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel

PakAlumni Social Network

[Riaz Haq]

These days, electronic sports (Esports) is one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in the world.

by Osama Qadri

https://www.geo.tv/latest/386299-gamers-of-the-future-does-esports-...

It has come a long way since 1972, when the first gaming event took place at Stanford University. The winning prize was a yearlong subscription for the Rolling Stone Magazine.

Now, competitive and professional gaming has become a billion dollar industry with the potential to grow further.

E-sports offers a compelling viewing experience to a demographic that is no longer reliant on traditional media. In its tournaments, both amateurs and professional players compete in games such as:

First Person Shooter (FPS) like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty, and Overwatch
Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) like Dota 2 and League of Legends
Fighting Games like Tekken and King of Fighters
Sports-based like FIFA, PES, and Need for Speed
While here in Pakistan, the rise of Esports would not be possible if Syed Sumail "Sumail" Hassan, a Pakistani-based professional Dota 2 player. He bagged the title of becoming the youngest player to win $1 million in the sport in 2015.

Afterwards, Arslan Ash, the Lahore-based Tekken player, stunned everyone by winning EVO Japan and USA in 2019. He carried on his success to become the ESPN Esports Player of the Year.

As the local e-sports players began to shine worldwide, not only in Tekken but also in Valorant, CSGO, PUBG, and Dota 2, the government also took on a major initiative when Minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted about giving esports a "Regular Sports Status".

Gamers of the future: Does Esports have a future in Pakistan?
E-sports in Pakistan further started to grow as the PUBG Mobile players shone in different competitions, making it the highest paying game in Pakistan. Their local tournaments are worth more than other game tournaments.

Dota 2 and Counter-Strike Global Offensive (CSGO) were the two top competitive games in Pakistan, but since the launch of Valorant over the past year, many players switched to the new FPS game. This new game also surpassed the number of tournaments organized in Pakistan compared to CSGO with the bigger prize pools.

Currently, Valorant and PUBG Mobile have become the spotlight games in Pakistan, achieving rapid popularity and bringing in many sponsors for the events.

Esports is a billion-dollar industry, and Pakistan is gradually proving it can produce a pool of talent in different games with bigger prize pools. The future of esports in Pakistan is crystal clear and bright for gaming, and the players should be confident about it.

[Riaz Haq]

Gamers Galaxy, #Pakistan’s Biggest #Esports Event With A Prize Pool Of 2 Crores PKR, To Be Held In Islamabad via @tft_ https://www.thefridaytimes.com/gamers-galaxy-pakistans-biggest-espo...

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Galaxy Racer Pakistan is excited to announce the launch of Gamers Galaxy, the largest esports event to take place in the history of Pakistan. Gamers Galaxy is set to happen on the 8th and 9th of January at the Pak-China Friendship Centre in Islamabad.

The all-inclusive esports event will be free of entry to the public and will have a grand prize pool of 2 CRORE Pakistani Rupees.

The event will be jam-packed line-up of gamers’ favourite console, PC and esports. Each day will be closed with an exhilarating concert from some of Pakistan’s biggest musical superstars. The gaming festival will feature meet and greets and panels with the country’s most popular content creators, action-packed live entertainment, and so much more.

The event will also be televised in partnership with Ten Sports for the first time in the country’s history.

The expansion of Galaxy Racer into Pakistan and the launch of Gamers Galaxy will boost the country’s gaming ecosystem and nurture gaming talent, giving them a platform for competitive esports. This also aligns with Galaxy Racer Pakistan’s vision of creating jobs and making the country one of the world’s gaming hubs.

Fakhr-e-Alam, CEO of Galaxy Racer Pakistan, said: “Pakistan has one of the largest young populations in the world, and we want to give that youth the opportunity to participate and compete globally. Our youth deserves the best esports experiences and through Galaxy Racer Pakistan and our flagship event Gamers Galaxy, we will provide the youth the right platform to compete and succeed on a global level.”

Walid Singer, Chief of Staff of Galaxy Racer Global, said: “We’re very excited to be hosting Pakistan’s biggest gaming event – it’s such an exciting market for us as it’s one of the youngest populations on earth. There is incredible talent that we just can’t wait to fully tap into, and this all begins with Gamers Galaxy.”

Get ready for a new era of gaming!

To sign up to attend or take part in the qualifiers, please head to https://gamersgalaxy.com.pk

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter to know more.

-ENDS-

[Riaz Haq]

VS Fighting X Winner 2022: Arslan Ash

https://www.redbull.com/pk-en/turning-26-with-a-bang-arslan-ash-ear...

The Red Bull Player from Lahore might be primarily known for his Tekken prowess and a garage full of championship trophies and accolades, but he’s no slouch when it comes to King of Fighters too. In fact, he was known for his KOF skills in the local circuits before speeding to the top in Tekken.
Ash has continued to place in the finals in KOF tournaments around the world but hadn’t won any major one. That changed on August 20, 2022, Ash won the VS Fighting X tournament held by Electronic Dojo in Birmingham, England.
What made the victory even sweeter was that it was Ash’s 26th birthday. Winning a major tournament in a different game than you’re known for; who needs cake after that?

[Riaz Haq]

In most cases when it comes to tech, India’s spending and investment are ahead of Pakistan’s by leaps and bounds. In the case of gaming, however, the average spend per person in Pakistan is $5.67 which is lower than most countries but at par with India, claims Intenta Digital.

However, ranked 34 with $5.2 million in prize money, Pakistan is 10 points — $1.7m — ahead of India in terms of esports earnings, according to esportsearnings.com. But the industry is not flouring as it could be.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1707355/virtual-clashes-of-india-vs-pakistan

The glow of Pakistan’s cricketing triumph over India, be it the Championship trophy or the World Cup, does not fade away with time. But the clashes between the age-old rivals (India & Pakistan) are not limited to the cricket field, extending into the virtual world.


Esports are multiplayer video games played competitively by professional gamers and watched by spectators. It’s a $1 billion-plus market globally, growing at a double-digit compound growth rate annually.

It comes under the wider auspices of video gaming, an industry that is projected to reach $227 million by 2026 in Pakistan, according to Singapore-based Intenta Digital. To put it in context, this is roughly the value of exports generated by the famed Sialkot sports goods.

“Esports is close linked to gaming. Pakistan is amongst the highest countries ranking in terms of league sports. There are people like Ash who come from humble backgrounds but have made their mark internationally,” says Samar Hasan, co-founder of Epiphany Games.

In most cases when it comes to tech, India’s spending and investment are ahead of Pakistan’s by leaps and bounds. In the case of gaming, however, the average spend per person in Pakistan is $5.67 which is lower than most countries but at par with India, claims Intenta Digital.

However, ranked 34 with $5.2 million in prize money, Pakistan is 10 points — $1.7m — ahead of India in terms of esports earnings, according to esportsearnings.com. But the industry is not flouring as it could be.

Industry mistrust

While the industry is growing, it contends with the inefficiency and corruption that are endemic to most sectors of the economy.

“There have been cases where the tournament registration fees (usually about Rs1,000-1,500) have not been enough to cover the cost of prize money,” says Mahreen “EngineerBunny” Butt, Esports host, analyst and caster.

The money is spent on fancy settings and lightning equipment instead of substance, she rants. A lot of the tournaments are more about marketing than about the sports which is hampering its growth.

Another example is the case of a local company breaking a non-disclosure agreement with an international company to make a quick buck.

“We are not trusted,” says Ms Butt. “A foreign company’s desktop graphics card that had not been formally launched into the market was made available to a local company under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Breaking the NDA, the graphic card was sold at a much higher value than the price at which it was supposed to be sold. Since then, the industry has lost the trust of international companies.”

State patronage or the lack thereof

What does Arshad Nadeem, Sialkot’s FIFA football and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy have in common? Global acclaim without state patronage.

Pakistan’s former federal minister for science and technology Fawad Chaudhry had last year announced that esports will be recognised as a sport for which a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Pakistan Sports Body and the Pakistan Science Foundation.

Mr Chaudhry announced the Free Fire Pakistan League (FFPL) — the first national esports initiative in Pakistan, sponsored by Singaporean game developing company Garena. The fourth season of FFPL kicked off this month.

[Riaz Haq]

How Islam helped Pakistan become an esports hub
DEVIN NEALY 5:47 AM SAT DEC 31, 2022

https://boingboing.net/2022/12/31/how-islam-helped-pakistan-become-...


Fighting games helped establish the world of esports. Before League of Legends and Starcraft even had a tournament presence, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike was taking the internet by storm with EVO moment 37. However, in the realm of competitive fighting games, there are few games as difficult as Tekken. Since Tekken is played in three dimensions, as opposed to the traditional two dimensions, there are numerous eventualities to account for during play. In addition to the three-dimensional chaos, almost every character in the game has a hundred moves that both you and your opponent must be aware of.

For decades, the country of South Korea has been the undisputed king of Tekken. With a host of notable players throughout the game's competitive history coming from South Korea, the country has long been established as the most dominant Tekken scene on Earth.

In the last few years, Pakistan has not only been making waves in the Tekken scene, but it's also working to usurp South Korea from its throne. In the video linked above, you can learn how the Islamic ritual of Hajj helped bring Tekken to Pakistan.

[Riaz Haq]

Gamer Pakistan and Elite Sports Pakistan announce 100th and 101st University Sports Commercialization Memorandums of Understanding

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gamer-pakistan-elite-sports-pakistan...


HENDERSON, NV and KARACHI, PAKISTAN / ACCESSWIRE / March 14, 2023 / Gamer Pakistan today announced that affiliate company Elite Sports Pakistan has signed its 100th university sports Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Usman Institute of Technology University Karachi and 101st MoU with Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur Sindh. These MoU's give Gamer Pakistan exclusive rights to conduct, broadcast and commercialize esports competitions at these respective universities.

Gamer Pakistan is rapidly becoming the premiere university esports partner for secondary education institutions in Pakistan. Gamer Pakistan creates the formats and events to provide a competitive environment in which to unearth and nurture budding esports talent at the collegiate level and provide them with opportunities to represent Pakistan globally in their journey to becoming world-class professional esports athletes.

Gamer Pakistan was founded in November 2021 to create college (in Pakistan "college" refers to pre-university programs, comparable to high schools in the U.S.), university and professional esports events for men's and women's teams. The company plans to develop competitive events that integrate our teams and leagues with regional and global teams and leagues sponsored by others. According to Statista, the number of gamers in Pakistan was estimated to be 36.8 million (16% of the population) in 2022 and is predicted to rise to 50.9 million gamers (20.6% of the population) by 2026.

"We are pleased to have achieved this milestone with Usman Institute of Technology University Karachi and Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur Sind," said Elite Sports Pakistan CEO Muhammad Jamal Qureshi. "Their leadership in expanding the competitive sports and career advancement opportunities available for their students in all aspects of athletics is to be commended."

"Gamer Pakistan looks forward to including Usman Institute of Technology and Shah Abdul Latif University into the total collegiate Gamer Pakistan competitive esports universe," said James Knopf, Gamer Pakistan CEO. "Their participation and the enthusiasm and skills of their student gamers gives us great confidence in the future of esports in Pakistan, and in the ability of these gamers to rightly take their space on the global esports stage."

Esports is a form of competition using video games in organized, multiplayer video game tournaments. Players use mobile devices, computers, and video game consoles to compete against each other virtually or before live audiences. Gamer Pakistan is developing a strong platform built on licensed technology to enhance user experience with interactive features, and competition among players through the organization of tournaments and other events that support esports. Commercialization is accomplished through the sale of advertising and sponsorships to accompany event broadcasts and merchandising of products cobranded with our institutional partners and sponsors.

To date over seven hundred teams have registered in different Gamer Pakistan competitions, whereas four hundred-plus esports teams have been registered exclusively in esports competitive games including PubG®, Call of Duty®, Free Fire®, Tekken®, FiFa®, Valorant® and CSGO®. Gamer Pakistan also plans to proffer development contracts with the top winning teams in Valorant and Call Of Duty to provide for the betterment and development of these aspiring esports athletes.


Between November 2021 and November 2022, Gamer Pakistan has organized and held 27 separate esports tournaments, including the first annual University Esports National Tournament and Championship from June 30 - July 1 of 2022. In December 2022 GP held the week-long inaugural National Esports Free Fire Championship.

[Riaz Haq]

Gamer Pakistan and Elite Sports Pakistan announce 100th and 101st University Sports Commercialization Memorandums of Understanding

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gamer-pakistan-elite-sports-pakistan...


Gamer Pakistan had already signed university sports commercialization Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with 99 universities from the public and private education sectors, and also with the Inter-University Consortium of Pakistan for Social Sciences (IUCPSS), which has an affiliation with up to seventy universities.

2023 Gamer Pakistan esports competitions include National Valorant League, Islamabad Esports Championship, Sindh (Provincial) Intervarsity PubG Tournament, KPK FIFA Championship, Lahore Esports (LAN event) Championship, GP Pakistan Tekken Championship, Gamer Pakistan National FREE FIRE League and the Punjab (Provincial) Open Esports Championship.

Elite Sports Pakistan Pvt. Ltd, (ESP) is our affiliate company and duly incorporated under the laws of Pakistan. ESP has entered into agreements with universities and sports authorities in Pakistan pursuant to which we have been granted exclusive rights with respect to licensing, producing, distributing and monetizing a range of sports events for inter-collegiate competition, including esports. ESP has been instrumental in forming Gamer Pakistan.

About Gamer Pakistan

Gamer Pakistan is an esports event development and product marketing company that was founded in November 2021 to create college, inter-university and professional esports events for all genders in Pakistan. Operations are conducted through wholly-owned subsidiary K2 Gamer (PVT) Ltd., and affiliate Elite Sports Pakistan Pvt. Ltd. https://www.gamerpakistan.com/

[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistani trio beats South Korea to clinch Gamers8 #TEKKEN7 Nations Cup in #SaudiArabia. The tournament was organized by #Saudi Esports Federation in Riyadh from July 6-9 with a total prize pool of $1 million, while 16 national teams participated from all over the world.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1763978

A Pakistani videogaming trio on Sunday won the Gamers8 Tekken 7 Nations Cup in Saudi Arabia with a 3-2 win over South Korea.

The tournament was organised by the Saudi Esports Federation in Riyadh from July 6-9 with a total prize pool of $1 million, while 16 national teams participated from all over the world.

The Pakistani team included Arslan “Ash” Siddique, Atif Butt and Imran Khan.

The trio reached the final after beating United Kingdom 2-1 in the semi-final and South Korea 3-0 in the upper-bracket final.


“Pakistan is the best Tekken [playing] region in the world,” Siddique tweeted after the win.

Meanwhile, Butt said he was grateful for his time in the tournament and lauded his teammates.

In April, Siddique won the Tekken 7 competition at EVO Japan 2023. In 2019, he won the Tekken 7 tournament in Japan as well as the Evolution Championship Series in the United States.

In August last year, he had finished third in the EVO 2022 Tekken 7 competition while Khan had secured second place in the competition.

Meanwhile, Butt had emerged as the new “King of the Iron Fist” in February after winning the Tekken World Tour 2022 videogame tournament in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

[Riaz Haq]

Gamer Pakistan has filed for an initial public offering, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gamer-pakistan-elite-sports-pakistan...

The games studio is offering 1.7 million shares of its common stock at an estimated price of $4 to $5 a share.

Selling stockholders are offering up to 2.3 million shares of Gamer Pakistan's common stock.

The company has applied to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Markets under the symbol GPAK.

"If we cannot realize a per share offering price of at least $4.00 per share in this offering, we will not proceed with this offering," Gamer Pakistan said, noting that it selected the lower price point of $4 per share "given recent market turmoil."

Write to Sabela Ojea at [e-mail]; @sabelaojeaguix

------------

Gamer Pakistan and Elite Sports Pakistan announce 100th and 101st University Sports Commercialization Memorandums of Understanding


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gamer-pakistan-elite-sports-pakistan...

HENDERSON, NV and KARACHI, PAKISTAN / ACCESSWIRE / March 14, 2023 / Gamer Pakistan today announced that affiliate company Elite Sports Pakistan has signed its 100th university sports Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Usman Institute of Technology University Karachi and 101st MoU with Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur Sindh. These MoU's give Gamer Pakistan exclusive rights to conduct, broadcast and commercialize esports competitions at these respective universities.

Gamer Pakistan is rapidly becoming the premiere university esports partner for secondary education institutions in Pakistan. Gamer Pakistan creates the formats and events to provide a competitive environment in which to unearth and nurture budding esports talent at the collegiate level and provide them with opportunities to represent Pakistan globally in their journey to becoming world-class professional esports athletes.

Gamer Pakistan was founded in November 2021 to create college (in Pakistan "college" refers to pre-university programs, comparable to high schools in the U.S.), university and professional esports events for men's and women's teams. The company plans to develop competitive events that integrate our teams and leagues with regional and global teams and leagues sponsored by others. According to Statista, the number of gamers in Pakistan was estimated to be 36.8 million (16% of the population) in 2022 and is predicted to rise to 50.9 million gamers (20.6% of the population) by 2026.

"We are pleased to have achieved this milestone with Usman Institute of Technology University Karachi and Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur Sind," said Elite Sports Pakistan CEO Muhammad Jamal Qureshi. "Their leadership in expanding the competitive sports and career advancement opportunities available for their students in all aspects of athletics is to be commended."

[Riaz Haq]

Tekken director has no idea how the game got so big in Pakistan

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78d4153veeo

Players from Pakistan have been dominating the professional Tekken scene - but the game's director says he has no idea how it got so big in the country.
First launched 30 years ago, the Japan-developed fighting game released its eighth numbered instalment at the start of this year.
The competitive Tekken scene used to be ruled by players from the Far East, but the current top ten contains four players from Pakistan.
Speaking at a recent tournament, Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada told BBC Asian Network the dominance of pros from the country "came out of nowhere".


Tekken is a 3D beat 'em up where players fight each other in one-on-one bouts in best-of-three matches.
Arslan "Arslan Ash" Siddique became an overnight superstar on the competitive circuit when he claimed victory in the 2019 EVO fighting game tournament.
He went on to win the coveted title four more times, earning him all-timer status in the eyes of many fans.
Arslan, 29, is currently ranked 10th in the world after an early exit from the Red Bull Golden Letters Tournament in London, but fellow Pakistani pro Atif Butt holds the second spot in the world list.
It's clear that the country's become a force on the global stage, but the game's director still isn't sure how it got there.

"We never knew they were playing Tekken," Harada-san says.
"Even now we've never been to Pakistan, so I'm still quite interested to hear why they became so obsessed with Tekken and so good at the game."
The game's producer Michael Murray tells Asian Network that he "loved it when Arslan came on the scene".
"No-one knew him," he says.
"Then out of nowhere someone no-one's talking about comes along and you find this other community and then Arslan says it's not just him.
"He says they're all strong in Pakistan, and everyone's like 'what?'
"It was just such an amazing story and I still remember how exciting it was to hear that."

At the recent contest in London, Lim "Ulsan" Soo-hoon from South Korea won first place, beating Jae-hyun "CherryBerryMango" Kim in the grand final.
They were joined by players from the USA, Japan and Europe, demonstrating the global popularity of Tekken.
Harada-san has been working on the series for 30 years, and says the competitive scene really kicked off around the release of Tekken 7.
He tells Asian Network his mother cried when he first told her he wanted to pursue a career in video games, but now his family is "quite proud" when they see him in magazines.
"They're like, 'wow, you're actually doing something with it, that's good," he says.
Harada-san says he's glad Tekken "has continued for a long time and we've been able to come this far".
But he does confess to being "a bit sad" that it's the "only remaining major 3D fighting game franchise".
"It would be more interesting if there were other rivals, right?" he says.