Red Bull Kumite London, a new edition from the fighting game tournament Red Bull Kumite, will head from Japan to the UK for a two-day event in May.
The invitational – taking place on May 22nd and 23rd – will include the first major Street Fighter V tournament of 2021 and a Guilty Gear Strive showcase.
The event will be streamed live on Twitch and YouTube across both days from the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London, which has also been transformed to match the spirit of the Red Bull Kumite legacy.
Red Bull Kumite London will bring together 16 of the best Street Fighter V competitors as they duke it out to become champion. Originally held in Paris from 2015 to 2018, the competition was moved to Japan in 2019 as a nod to the spiritual home to Street Fighter. For the 2021 edition, the legacy is coming to London.
To kick off the weekend, Red Bull Kumite London will feature an exclusive showcase of a new fighting game Guilty Gear Strive, incorporating competitions with pros, in-depth interviews with developer Arc System Works and more.
The showcase will host 12 prominent players from the Fighting Game Community (FGC), including some of the biggest names from the scene. It will be streamed over a six-hour special show to give fans and players insight ahead of Guilty Gear Strive’s official release in June 2021.
On Sunday, the Street Fighter V tournament will take place. The event will include 15 of the greatest players the game has to offer, as well as one additional UK player who will earn their place among the stars by winning the UK Last Chance Qualifier on May 2nd.
Gfinity has been appointed by Red Bull as the production partner for Red Bull Kumite London.
Red Bull has also partnered with Astro Gaming and AOC for the event.
You can watch the Red Bull Kumite London event live on May 22nd and 23rd at twitch.tv/redbull and youtube.com/redbullgaming. Players can register for the UK last chance qualifier here and see more at redbull.com/kumite
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
