Mexico & Canada Out of ARCREVO Finals Due to Pandemic

With the announcements that Combo Breaker and CEO are coming this year, there might have been a feeling that things were getting back to normal. Unfortunately, we got a cruel reminder of the effects of the pandemic when Arc System Works announced on their Twitter page that there would be some significant changes in the upcoming ARCREVO America finals which was slated to hold next month.

In their announcement, Arc System Works stated that due to problems concerning the pandemic, they would be unable to fly the champions from Canada and Mexico to the United States to take part in the tournament final. This is a shame as it was set up to be a spectacle. 

ARCREVO America 2021 had a simple format. There were five regions, namely:

• Central America
• America West
• America East
• Canada
• Mexico

These regions had five winners, who, along with the five players who were runners up, would have competed in the final to determine the overall winner. This will no longer happen. 

In an official statement on their website, Arc System said: "We at Arc System works regretfully announce we will not be able to fly the international players who qualified for the ARCREVO America 2021 Finals event in the regions of Mexico and Canada to the finals in Southern California due to the ever-shifting circumstances and risks regarding COVID"

They also added, "As a way to celebrate each player’s regional win and dedication to the tournament they will still receive all prizes each of the ARCREVO America 2021 finalists are set to receive and an ARCREVO America 2021 trophy to commemorate their victory in the regional qualifier events."

What this means for the entire tournament is unclear, will the other six participants situated in the United States still participate? If so, will they win a trophy for that tournament? 

The landscape of fighting games has been a little weird with the pandemic as we see that regional tournaments can still hold, but international tournaments still seem to be impossible at the moment. We hope that soon we'll be able to enjoy internationals again as the excitement surrounding different countries playing against one another offline has been sorely missed by the FGC.