Atif Butt, following in the footsteps of Arsalan Ash, has once again made history by winning the Tekken World Tour Finals 2022 and taking home the championship title. This weekend, we saw the best Tekken players from all around the globe competing to become the Tekken World Champion.
The Tekken World Tour 2022 has recently concluded, with over twenty-four players battling against one another, qualifying either straight from the Tekken World Tour 2022 Regional Finals or from the Last Chance Qualifiers. This was the first Tekken World Tour in over three years, and it may well be one of the last ones before we say goodbye to Tekken 7 offline tournaments.
The prize pool for the tournament was $100,000, with the winner receiving $50,000. Atif Butt faced off against JeonDDing in the final championship match. It was mostly a one-sided affair from start to finish, but the result was not surprising given Butt’s perfect record in the tournament.
Atif Butt was one of the most dominant figures in the competition, as he remained undefeated throughout the entire competition and finished first in his group during the preliminary Group Stages. However, one thing that may have taken all of us by surprise is the fact that Arsalan Ash was unable to advance to the Finals Bracket since he lost three of the five games he played in the Group Stage.
Atif, on the other hand, was nearly eliminated in the Winners Finals against Chikurin, down 0-2 early on before returning to win, 3-2. After that, in the Grand Finals, he met JeonDDing and easily defeated him 3-0, claiming the title of World Champion.
This is the first time in three years that we are seeing the Tekken World Finals and may very well be one of the last times we see Tekken 7 in an offline tournament. Following this, Bandai Namco also announced Tekken World Tour 2023 at this event, starting March 31st, 2023. Beginning from March 31 and continuing through April 2, Tokyo Big Sight will host EVO Japan 2023. As a matter of fact, EVO Japan will be the first tournament in a series of major tournaments that will be part of the Tekken World Tour 2023.
As if that weren’t enough, a brand-new gameplay trailer for Tekken 8 was also unveiled at the event, featuring the return of Nina with a completely different look. Some of the gameplay mechanics and overall aesthetic were shown off in the trailer.
While this is just the beginning of Bandai Namco’s next mainline installment in the “Tekken” series, there is a lot more to come, and we will make sure to keep you updated as new information becomes available.
