Could this also mean we're going to get a Soul Calibur pro circuit?

Going into 2019, it was becoming unclear where some of the biggest fighting game titles would stand from community and eSports perspectives with a number of players announcing plans to step back from competition and events having tournaments cancelled or games not showing up on the lineup at all.

Katsuhiro Harada, known as the long-time director and producer for the Tekken series, released an open letter to the fighting game community to address these concerns where he announced that he has become the leader and supervisor of Bandai Namco's Fighting Game eSports Strategy team and that support for all three of their major titles will continue into next year.

Dragon Ball FighterZ, Tekken 7 and Soul Calibur 6 will all feature "as many official tournaments as possible" in 2019 with continued support for smaller / community events according to Harada.

The letter also states that Bandai Namco are also dedicated to finding ways to assist community activities in the future with Harada asking anyone looking to hold a tournament to contact their regional Bandai Namco office.

These statements come after Dragon Ball FighterZ was revealed to have been left off of EVO Japan's main lineup and has had multiple community events cancelled which has EVO's Joey 'Mr. Wizard' Cuellar worried it might be "one and done" for the world's largest FGC event despite DBFZ having the highest viewership peak of EVO 2018.

Many in the community have been pointing towards Toei Animation or perhaps another entity in control of Dragon Ball's rights for the current issues and questions surrounding FighterZ's current competitive status which the prior company has since said they "have no knowledge of" impeding anything in that regard.

You can check out Harada's full letter in the screen-cap below or the text after the jump.



Click images for larger versions

Harada's open letter to the FGC To everyone in the "Dragon Ball FighterZ", "Tekken", and "Soul Calibur" community, I wanted to notify everyone that I have become the leader and supervisor of the Bandai Namco Fighting Game eSports Strategy team today (Of course, I'll continue producing the game as well). And first I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who held and/or participated in various tournaments this year. We at Bandai Namco are committed to expand the horizons of both tournament and community scenes of these 3 franchises. We are already planning to have as many official tournaments as possible for next year—while continue supporting tournaments held by the community. Furthermore, we are dedicated to figure out ways where we can assist tournaments and community activities in the future. If you have any questions or inquiries about holding or participating in a tournament in your area, please contact the local Bandai Namco office in your respective region. (The conditions and languages might differ between areas, so contacting your local Bandai Namco offices is highly recommended.) We will continue to bring you the ultimate experience through Bandai Namco Fighting Games next year. Thank you.

Sent in by GodComplex, lelouch345, Ramusu20, SqueakyBloom and ParabolaBeam.