Red Bull Pindrop to show off Tekken 8 in London ahead of game’s launch, will feature mini-tournaments between Tekken esports stars and influencers

Red Bull is teaming up with Bandai Namco for Red Bull Pindrop, an event which will take an early look at Tekken 8 for the UK gaming community.

The livestreamed showcase will take place at London’s Red Bull Gaming Sphere on January 19th 2024 from 5pm GMT, bringing fans an advanced look at Tekken 8 one week ahead of its launch on January 26th.

There will also be a lot of mini-tournaments happening between Tekken esports stars and influencers at the event.

The Red Bull Gaming Sphere will be transformed to take on the appearance of a Tekken Fight Lounge lobby.

Red Bull Pindrop – Tekken 8 will kick off with a live broadcast hosted on the Red Bull Twitch channel. The broadcast will be hosted by top fighting game community (FGC) talent Hassan ‘Spag’ Farooq, Ryan ‘Bubsy’ Sinclair and Steven ‘Tasty Steve’ Scott and feature exclusive interviews with Tekken 8 Director Katsuhiro Harada and Producer Michael Murray.

Across the day, viewers will witness Tekken 8 gameplay, showcasing the game’s characters and the latest Story Mode and Practice Mode. Arcade Quest will also be debuting in Tekken 8, a new single player mode for players to try their hand and learn how to play Tekken while the story of their avatar will progress.

Rounding out the livestream will be a series of star-studded exhibition matches, as professional players get hands-on with the new game.

Mobilising the fighting game community, Red Bull Pindrop – Tekken 8 will welcome ‘top creators, legends and royalty’ to test the game before release, streaming their impressions live from the Red Bull Gaming Sphere and creating exclusive content for viewers.

Following the livestream event, the Red Bull Gaming Sphere will open its doors to the public for a free special access day on Sunday January 21st 2024. Tekken fans across the UK can delve into the latest game ahead of its release.

The news comes a few months after Just Stop Oil protestors interrupted a Tekken esports event on stage at EGX 2023, before being arrested for criminal damage.

Dom Sacco

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.