As offline fighting game tournaments begin to return, one of the first major events will be CEO 2021. The tournament will be held Dec. 3-5, 2021, announced recently by the CEO Founder and Dreamhack Fighting Game Community Director Alex Jebailey.
CEO 2021’s venue, the Wyndham Orlando Resort. Source: CEO Gaming
Returning to Orlando, Florida for the first time since 2017, CEO makes its way back to the Wyndham Orlando Resort after a brief stint in Daytona before the pandemic.
The event announced a 2500-player entry cap with all games hitting their individual caps within mere days of the reveal. CEO will host ten main games decided based on current community engagement. The entry caps are raising on June 27 when registration re-opens.
As the latest fighting game release, Guilty Gear Strive is arguably the headline game for CEO 2021. The fighting game community has embraced this newest title in the Guilty Gear franchise due to its exceptional rollback netcode and fast-paced gameplay, making it one of the top games to watch at upcoming major tournaments. Guilty Gear’s entry cap of 512 players was filled within just 30 minutes of registration opening.
CEO Dreamland. Source: CEO Gaming
One of the cornerstone games at CEO, Super Smash Bros finds its way into the main lineup with Smash Ultimate. Just before complete shutdown of offline events, CEO Dreamland–a Smash-focused event run by CEO Gaming–was one of the few offline majors in 2020. Smash returns at CEO this year with its ever-growing roster, now including Tekken’s Kazuya Mishima. Smash Ultimate capped off at 512 entrants, which also filled within an hour.
Street Fighter V makes its way back to CEO with new characters, a new V-shift mechanic and more community engagement as season five of content updates continues. While the Capcom Pro Tour has shifted to online events due to the void of offline tournaments since spring 2020, CEO has always provided an exciting place for the world’s best Street Fighter players to compete in the tournament’s unique ring stage. SFV has an initial cap of 512 entrants.
The Tekken community continues to grow with CEO on the horizon. Despite not being a part of the Tekken World Tour circuit this year, the event will likely be the largest offline showcase of Tekken 7 season four gameplay to this day. As a result, numerous top-level players from regions around the world have already registered and filled Tekken’s 512-entrant cap.
Other games being featured at CEO 2021 include Mortal Kombat 11, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Granblue Fantasy Versus, Skullgirls, BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle and Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. By comparison, CEO 2020 planned for 20 separate main game events, doubling the size of this year’s lineup. Unfortunately this means not every big fighting game could make the cut, but CEO 2021’s current lineup will make for an exciting return for offline majors in general.
Inside the CEO 2021 venue. Source: CEO Gaming
As players scrambled to register for the event, CEO’s founder reassured the community that they would have another chance to sign up for the tournament. While tournaments often had no entry cap before the pandemic, CEO 2021 faces a unique challenge this year. However, the event aims to welcome the community back in almost full force.
The fighting game community is eager to return to normal, with some regions already hosting small local events. CEO aims to be a turning point in December on a global scale, marking a new era for fighting game tournaments.
Featured image courtesy of CEO Gaming
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook, and be sure to follow us on Twitter at @TheGameHaus and @TGHEsports.
You can also follow Alex on Twitter at @bear__player.
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
