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Ryan Hart has competed in and won plenty of fighting game tournaments over the years – now he’s getting his own.
The UK fighting game community (FGC) legend, also known as the ‘Prodigal Son’, has been named as the VF official ambassador for the Virtua Fighter series of fighting games.
The Ryan Hart VF Cup has also been announced, a new monthly online tournament.
Participants can earn unique in-game icons created by the game’s publisher, Sega, and earn points and other prizes. The winner will earn a trophy and the in-game title: ‘Ryan Hart Virtua Fighter Cup Champion’. Other prizes are to be confimed.
Volume 1 of the Cup will start on February 8th, with Ryan streaming proceedings from 5pm CET on his Twitch channel.
The tournament will be for the Virtua Fighter 5 REVO game on PC.
Dates for the Ryan Hart VF Cup are:
- 8th February 2025 – 1st qualifier
- 15th March 2025 – 2nd qualifier
- 12th April 2025 – 3rd qualifier
- 24th May 2025 – 4th qualifier
- 7th June 2025 – Ryan Hart Virtua Fighter Cup Volume 1 Top 8 Finals
The top two players from each qualifier will progress to the finals.
On being an ambassador for Virtua Fighter, Ryan Hart said: “From playing Virtua Fighter in the arcades in 1996 to working alongside the VF team is more than a dream come true.
“I am extremely honoured and excited about the journey ahead.”
At 45 years old, Ryan Hart is one of the UK’s most experienced and decorated FGC talents, and has made a huge impact in the world of competitive fighting games.
The news also comes a few days after Ryan Hart was announced in the broadcast talent line-up for the Apex Legends 2025 ALGS Championship in Japan, where he’ll be working as host.
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.
