Bandai Namco apologizes for disqualifying a top Tekken World Tour competitor whose country was not listed among the 189 options eligible

Last weekend, Bandai Namco held a Tekken 8 Tournament, Thaiger Uppercut in Thailand. Despite a promising start, the tournament ended in disaster when one player was disqualified before a top-eight result.

Tekken 8 player xiaochenchenchen (XCC), got off to a great start, beating anyone who came up against him. XCC was not able to complete the tournament, as officials announced shortly after his impressive win streak that he would no longer be eligible. XCC didn't cheat or do anything sinister, but he did violate a rule: "This tournament only allows players who are legal residents in one of the countries listed in" Tekken 8’s official rulebook.

China, where XCC is originally from, is not included in the list of eligible countries in the "Territories section" of Tekken 8 rule book. The list of eligible nations is so long, even my humble home of Wales is on it.

It's not clear why China isn’t listed, but it could be because Tekken 8 has no dedicated servers in China. This means the game isn’t officially supported there.

XCC did not lie about his nationality, regardless of eligibility. You can see he clearly listed Shenyang as his home city when he registered for the tournament at start.gg. How was he allowed compete? To be fair to the officials at Thaiger Uppercut there were 550 attendees to worry about but even so, XCC managed knock out a group of players who had a good shot at winning. The entire debacle has cast a shadow over the event.

Fans are understandably angry, not only for XCC but also for all players who won't be able to compete in the "World Tour" that Bandai Namco refers to. One player said, "This situation is grade-A bullshit." "It is one thing that some countries are not allowed to compete in a Tekken World Tour tournament, but it is another that they let XCC continue playing for so long before disqualifying. Bamco might want to exclude 33% the world, but I hope this buzz goes global. I don't want people to stop discussing this issue--something needs to be done."

But all is not lost. After a large number of angry fans yelled loudly enough about XCC being disqualified, Katsuhiro Harada and Bandai Namco's Game Director for Tekken 8 spoke out. Bandai Namco apologizes in a Twitter post for disappointing its players and community over the disqualification of the Thaiger Uppercut tournament. "After careful consideration, we will update our official rules for the Tekken World Tour global finals 2024 to allow players from China compete via the Last Chance Qualifier. We will reach out to the players who were affected by the Thaiger Uppercut to cover their accommodation and travel expenses. We will also invite XCC to Tokyo for The Last Chance Qualifier."

Harada confirms that Bandai Namco is looking to "increase in the future the number of participating nations" although other issues, such as visas, may prevent this.

It's a happy ending, especially since XCC was invited back to prove his mettle in another Tekken tournament. Bandai Namco had no choice but to make an effort to appease the players, especially since so many were angry at the increased number of microtransactions within Tekken 8. A review bombing campaign has pushed the game's Steam ratings to 35% mostly negative. One Steam review said, "This game's monetization is rotten from the core." Bandai Namco may not have wanted to see their fanbase explode in rage by remaining silent about XCC.