“It doesn’t matter what language they speak, it doesn’t matter what walk of life [they’re] from . . . they all have the same shared interest and passion [in this community].”
— John Choi, on the Fighting Game Community

In an era when many corners of the esports industry are freezing over, the fighting game community (“FGC”) remains defiantly authentic and alive. Coming out of EVO 2025, the contrast couldn’t be clearer: as high-budget and traditionally polished esports leagues shrink and consolidate, the FGC is celebrating among its most globally diverse, culturally rich, and community-driven moments in history.

That growth is threaded through the esports stack, too. League operators continue to build on successful events, platform partners expand the ways in which they facilitate online or local competition, endemic sponsors innovate with greater product offerings, and more and more developers and publishers are creating new fighting game experiences across arena fighters, traditional fighters, anime fighters, platform fighters, and everything in between.

On the legal side, these events involve a confluence of many different types of contracts and considerations. Events rely on agreements with venues, sponsors, vendors, and licenses from video game rightsholders in order to operate. They hire production companies to broadcast the event and hash out ownership and licenses in the resulting intellectual property against the backdrop of the agreement with the games’ rightsholders. Then, organizers impose terms of attendance on competitors, who in turn spend their money throughout artist’s alley according to standardized sale terms.

Cultural Crossroads

The FGC features a type of organic internationalism unique across esports, particularly in that it transcends skill levels. While something like CS:GO or League of Legends frequently features international competition, events primarily consist of professionals competing against one another and fans in attendance to root on those professionals. In contrast, the halls of EVO, CEO, or Combo Breaker feature hobbyist competitors from all over the world drowning in pools and then hunting for a new controller to level their game up. That demographic shift creates a unique level of enthusiasm for the game itself that blends communities from around the world into one another and splashes onto top competitors.

Unlike many esports ecosystems that are designed top-down and regionally siloed, the FGC has always grown from the bottom up, connecting players across languages and backgrounds through that shared passion. And while that degree of decentralization presents some challenges as far as courting outside investors to grow the space more inorganically, it means each inch of growth is well-earned and grounded in a reliably passionate community.

That unique cultural intersection adds further complication to the legal confluence mentioned above. FGC events may feature international sponsors and vendors, adding more negotiation over the governing law for disputes and more cultural drafting norms, in addition to the more obvious visa and immigration complications. Those visa implications mean it can be critical for competitors based outside of the United States to work with an immigration attorney at an early stage to ensure they are eligible to compete in the largest FGC events.

What sets the FGC Apart

• More Participation, Less Spectatorship

One of the fundamental “romantic” ideas at the heart of the FGC is the idea that, on any given day, anyone in a bracket can win the tournament. Accordingly, FGC events draw a level of investment from its attendees that lead to people who don’t just show up to watch: they show up to compete, to lab, to meet rivals and friends from other countries and walks of life. That level of active participation is rare in modern esports and creates a fundamentally different value proposition for vendors and sponsors activating at the event itself, as well as content creators attending to “farm” those interactions.

• Authentic, Decentralized Ecosystems

While EVO is now owned by Sony and RTS, the broader FGC generally remains stubbornly grassroots. Locals still matter. Regionals still matter. That bedrock ecosystem insulates the community against the ebb and flow of larger publisher partnerships that may come and go as the associated individual games sink or swim. And because the FGC never fully bought into the centralized, franchised model (it never made sense in that context), it was never exposed to its fallout.

• Cost-Efficient, Community-Led Growth

Most FGC events are built on lean budgets and strong community engagement, including a heavy reliance on volunteers. That generates some authenticity and trust that is hard-earned and incredibly sticky. “Sustainable” may be the wrong word to describe this aspect of the FGC given that, in a perfect world, anyone investing hours upon hours of time and energy into putting on a large-scale event would be fairly compensated for that, but reliable passion fueling that level of sacrifice and sweat seems to result in enduring events. 

• Decentralized Ownership

The FGC belongs to everyone and no one. There’s no one developer, publisher, sponsor, or tournament organizer holding the keys. Capcom, Bandai Namco, Arc System Works, and SNK may create the games, but they compete among the hierarchy of fighting games as much as the actual competitors, and the scene has demonstrated consistent passion for general archetypes of games even during periods where no installments of those popular franchises are popular. As a consequence, the FGC has become a cultural commons where fans, TOs, and creators are co-authors of its evolution. It’s not immune to missteps, but it’s resilient because it’s not a monoculture.

The decentralized nature of the FGC also provides something of a check on video game rightsholders in negotiations. Because the FGC does not depend on any specific game, it becomes more difficult for rightsholder to insist on burdensome regulations attached to licensed events, preferential placement of their game above others, limitations on available sponsorship opportunities, or access to creators with large platforms. Understanding the FGC’s unique ecosystem can be critical to successfully negotiating these agreements with endemic and non-endemic parties.

A Blueprint for the Future?

As the esports industry continues to evolve amidst the current period of painful correction, the FGC serves as a proof-of-concept for what sustainable, community-rooted competitive ecosystems can look like. This model has sustainably supported the careers of competitors, content creators, tournament organizers, sponsors, vendors, and even lawyers handling all of those contracts. And ultimately, it’s a wildly fun environment.

For those involved in organizing, sponsoring, or competing in grassroots esports events, legal counsel with experience in interactive entertainment can provide guidance through the complex contractual and licensing landscape.