“Where I’m from, after street fights they bring in Tekken,” so goes the opening bar in the grime theme song of King Jae, one of the UK’s most well-known fighting game streamers.
And bring in Tekken he did to London’s Platform gaming bar last month. The Mandem Lobby was an event for the UK fighting game community (FGC) consisting of a tournament, networking and a chance to catch up over some drinks and pizzas.
It was organised in conjunction with Cooldown, the gaming event platform from Budweiser parent company AB InBev. It turned out to be one of the last events for Cooldown, which sadly closed down last month, but this event had nothing to do with that. It was an impressive event with a decent turnout and that passionate FGC spirit.
It’s the latest in a string of in-person gaming and esports events in the UK, something that King Jae feels is crucial for the community.
“This is my first ever event,” Justin ‘King Jae’ Nelson told Esports News UK at the gathering. “I was scared, I’m not gonna lie!” he laughs.
“Obviously I have a decent following, but it’s offline, and some people are kind of intimidated to come offline because they don’t know who’s who, so I was trying to do something to make people more comfortable to come out [to attend a live event].
“I feel like the fighting game spirit comes from the community that wants to express themselves and have fun, and I feel like that is very essential, which is why I tried to do something like this today.”
King Jae
“I’m really happy that people felt confident to come out.”
The Mandem Lobby tournament format was round robin, so everyone got to play each other once, and then the wins were tallied up.
“You can also have tournaments where you fight another person and that’s it, but I wanted them to feel like they’re a part of something,” King Jae explained.
So how come King Jae himself didn’t finish in the top three?!
“Do you know what it is?” he grins, “I feel like when you’re running an event, you want to make sure everything, the whole tournament, is going well. But if I weren’t running it then I would be top three, obviously!” he laughs.
“I think everyone enjoyed themselves and had fun, I really appreciate everyone coming through, it means a lot. There probably will be more, we’re going to make it bigger and better – there’s going to be a stream next time and less hiccups.”
Players like Shyko, Dante, Aram, MTS Luda and Blnka also attended, as well as creators including Leon Massey, Kidd, P3achx and Kuma, plus Capcom community manager Richard Denton and more.
Who won? Top three announced at King Jae Tekken Mandem Lobby tournament
The event was won by AyoRichie, a top UK Tekken player who also won Red Bull Golden Letters last year.
He received an Astro headset, Roccat keyboard and Kone mouse, for taking first place. AyoRichie also went undefeated on the day.
In second place was ImortalXsoul, who won a headset and mouse, and Ducky finished in third place.
King Jae said on AyoRichie’s win: “The thing with Richie is that I feel like in 2022 and 2021 he’s been showing how good he is. He’s beaten some of the best players – Anakin from America, Joey Fury as well, he’s beaten so many good players. He’s just super solid – hats off to him, man.
“I didn’t expect anything less, he’s a very talented and strong player, and a very good streamer as well.”
AyoRichie praised the event, King Jae and his opponents on the day:
After attending this event, it’s a reminder once again that UK FGC is a bit of a sleeping giant. We have real talent here, a strong and united community, and a ton of potential for the future.
Here’s to more Mandem Lobby and other offline FGC events in the future. The rest of UK esports needs to back up and take note.
Related article: Which gaming and esports bars are there in London?
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.
