The lack of Arslan Ash in "The Game Awards" eSports player of the year is a fucking embarassment and genuinely mindboggling

[MistaTwo]

I don't know enough about the other scenes and their nominations to really know their contribution in comparison, but Arslan not being nominated does seem like a glaring omission.

I went to EVO for the first time this year, and watching him dominate in the Grand Finals was one of the highlights of the entire event.

 

[DanteMenethil]

The games awards are a complete joke. The Arslan Ash arc is some of the biggest upsets that ever happened in esports. He's the winner of fucking evo japan and tekken world championship. Not even nominated lmao. What a complete farce.

 

[Rommaz]

Folks from Pakistan coming out of nowhere and dominating the Tekken scene like it's a new anime arc has been my favorite story this year.

Arslan Ash was just the harbinger for the Pakistan Tekken community and it rules

Click to shrink...

The anime jokes have been great lmao. Though far from accurate I saw one where Raditz was Arslan and was just set up for the arrival of Atif Butt and Awais Honey lol

 

[MechaX]

I mean, these are the same folks who decided to nominate Jump Force in the best fighting game category.

Their knowledge on FGC events is probably limited at best

 

[Jaded Alyx]

One of many reasons why I've long considered these awards a total joke.

 

[BraXzy]

We've gone from Korean to Pakistani domination within a year, basically.
I've never really seen anything like it.

Click to shrink...

This is incredibly awesome (first I'm hearing of it though, I don't keep my ear to the ground on fighting eSports).

 

[RecRoulette]

I mean, these are the same folks who decided to nominate Jump Force in the best fighting game category.

Their knowledge on FGC events is probably limited at best

Click to shrink...

No they didn't stop lying

*looks it up*

Oh...they did.

 

[LiK]

Indeed. That dude is inspiring and did something no one else has done. I dunno how he wasn't nominated.

 

[Quad Lasers]

This man beat Knee.

Knee.

This is exactly the type of thing that just reinforces why the FGC doesn't take the "esports" crowd seriously.

 

[jett]

I think the esport industry and gaming press as a whole cares very little about fighting games to be honest.

 

[Quantza]

Yeah, I was shocked as well.
But these awards can never really be fair if the judges don't take in outside information to inform their decisions.

Nominating Jump force for best fighting game, but not Arslan as a personality?!
Should be more game candidates for certain categories as well (FE, DMC 5).

 

[metalgear89]

Pakistani + Muslim is hurting some feelings. That first picture is triggering a few people aswell.

 

[Fahdi]

Arslan is a good personal friend and he is as humble as they come. I was at the airport to receive him and take him home. It was surreal holding something I always wanted to do myself. But it made me so proud that Pakistan finally got the recognition it deserved. Here's him awarding the trophy to me for fun XD hahaha.

 

[Yatahaze]

I don't even follow esports or fighting games and I saw those YouTube vids about his rise and was legit impressed. That guy is a phenom and his story is amazing.

 

[Damn Silly]

Pretty much. I'm not gonna claim to be the deepest into the FGC or esports (so some of the other nominees could be worthy for all I am aware) but even I got caught up with Arslan Ash's whole journey. It's one hell of an achievement and for it to be ignored seems messed up.

 

[dancingphlower]

Mainstream gaming outlets don't care about fighting games, what's new?

 

[Alienous]

An omission like this does kind of make the whole thing feel like a joke. How thorough can your process be to miss one of the biggest eSports stories of the decade?

 

[Quantza]

Arslan is a good personal friend and he is as humble as they come. I was at the airport to receive him and take him home. It was surreal holding something I always wanted to do myself. But it made me so proud that Pakistan finally got the recognition it deserved. Here's him awarding the trophy to me for fun XD hahaha.

Click to shrink...

Aw, haha. Thanks for the picture.

 

[Tibarn]

I expected him or Leo to be at least nominated, but only FPS and MOBA players were listed. As I don't follow any competitive scene besides some fighting games events like the EVO, I'm not sure if the nominated players are really hype or had performed amazing feats, but I agree that even if I didn't play seriously any Tekken since 3, watching the EVO final with Arslan with the coworkers was AMAZING.

 

[Lulu]

Agreed OP

 

[ZangBa]

This dude's rise is like the only thing I know about in eatsports. Crazy he wasn't even nominated. I know nobody cares about the FGC, but didn't Sonixfox win last year?

 

[Rommaz]

Arslan is a good personal friend and he is as humble as they come. I was at the airport to receive him and take him home. It was surreal holding something I always wanted to do myself. But it made me so proud that Pakistan finally got the recognition it deserved. Here's him awarding the trophy to me for fun XD hahaha.

Click to shrink...

Lol this is pretty cool to see. Are you a regular player there too? Like regular enough that I might have seen some of your matches on the growing YouTube channels with uploads from Pakistani matches?

 

[LiK]

This dude's rise is like the only thing I know about in eatsports. Crazy he wasn't even nominated. I know nobody cares about the FGC, but didn't Sonixfox win last year?

Click to shrink...

Yup, he did.

 

[Hyun Sai]

Jump Force being nominated tells us all we need to know about those "awards" anyway.

 

[Fahdi]

Aw, haha. Thanks for the picture.

Click to shrink...

I think its because of the fine people like OP and yourself who don't do glaring ommissions due to race, religion, geography... and want to give recognition to someone deserving is all that matters. Because of the FGC and Arslan, almost every serious player I know is now sponsored. You guys haven't seen the KOF crews yet, they are even scarier than the Tekken folks.

 

[Lulu]

This dude's rise is like the only thing I know about in eatsports. Crazy he wasn't even nominated. I know nobody cares about the FGC, but didn't Sonixfox win last year?

Click to shrink...

Yea he did. Can't have those compelling FGC folk win every year!

 

[KINGOFSHIBUYA Ltd.]

Reminds me when ZeRo was on a win streak and didnt get recognized.

Whoever nominates for the game awards just has bad/limited taste.

 

[ZiZ]

Yeah, it's a real shame. I don't follow the FGC or any esports but I still know about Arslan Ash.

 

[Twelvy]

I was looking at the nominees for the 3 esports awards (player, team, commentator)... I don't know a single one. I guess fighting games aren't popular enough.
Arslan Ash should have been there

 

[Vee]

Besides the criminal act of leaving ash out, we don't get any other FGC reps? I dont follow lol,csgo,or dota so idk any of those players or commentators. I guess after Sonicfoxs win we shouldn't expect anymore.

 

[NekoNeko]

not surprising that the nominees come from way more popular esports games.

 

[Hyun Sai]

Yea he did. Can't have those compelling FGC folk win every year!

Click to shrink...

Pakistani and muslim is a no go !

 

[hussien-11]

I mean, these are the same folks who decided to nominate Jump Force in the best fighting game category.

Their knowledge on FGC events is probably limited at best

Click to shrink...

I don't think it was an issue of knowledge. the guy became pretty famous for what he did even outside the FGC.

I mean, it is really obvious why.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

Fighting games is poverty

 

[HeavenlyE]

The Esports section of The Game Awards very rarely gets it right in my opinion

 

[DrKelpo]

Never heard of him, but I don't follow esport at all... But damn, what a story.

If all that is true, it's a shame he's not nominated.

 

[Sensei]

its the game awards, theres nothing prestigious about it really and it doesnt do a good job of pretending to be

they dont have anybody in the weeds actually doing the work to give recognition to somebody like arslan ash or fighting games in general. its honestly really sad how gaming journalism doesnt properly keep up with fighting games. i feel like the genre is the last bastion of grassroots community propping up a competitive scene. its impressive stuff

 

[CyborgNumberBlue]

Jump Force being nominated for Best Fighting Game and no Arslan Ash nomination prove to me that my commitment to the belief these awards shows are full of shit is justified.

 

[Jahranimo]

Agreed 100% The Game Awards still has a ways to go to be truly representative of gaming and those that deserve recognition worldwide.

 

[Raysoul]

Yeah, he should be the eSports player of the year.

 

[NoirSuede]

unrelated but why does the FGC have so much trouble accepting e-sports whilist the Counter-Strike community embraces them just fine, even though both of them have the same root fromoffline locals (arcades/LAN)?

 

[Fahdi]

Lol this is pretty cool to see. Are you a regular player there too? Like regular enough that I might have seen some of your matches on the growing YouTube channels with uploads from Pakistani matches?

Click to shrink...

I use to play with Arslan's crew and even sponsored them for a while through my company named Gaminar 2012-2013 (all the main names, Arslan/Awais/Heera and more... all the pics are still on FB), you may have heard of me playing as Fahdi. But I am the average competition there and mince meat for these players now, I was decent back in the day and would win sets here and there against these behemoths. I played best of 5 against Arslan recently and came out with 0-5 in Arslan's favor with at least 2 perfects on my ass and only 1 round won XD. But its a privelage to play against the world champ.

Besides that eSports is not taken seriously on this country because everyone is so busy surviving. The Tekken scene itself is an anomaly that some of these guys dedicated so much time against all odds. Its frowned upon in our culture and joked about being kiddy. I bet that eSports money isn't a joke anymore hence RedBull sponsored him full time.

 

[chirt]

Yea it's a damn shame, his story has been very exciting.

 

[Dark Cloud]

Pakistani and Muslim. Yeah they ain't gonna let that get attention.

 

[k4mon]

I didn't think about him when I saw the nominees but now that you brought it up I agree that he should not only be nominated but lookin at the other actual nominees he should win it.

 

[affeinvasion]

This would be akin to a hockey fan being upset that the best hockey player got snubbed from the ESPYs. The Game Awards are just as lame, if not more lame than the ESPYs. Let them be. Celebrate these awesome accomplishments in other ways (like this thread).

 

[Deleted member 11214]

The big story from these awards is that a right-wing games journalist stirred up a bunch of lunatics on stage.

So... unsurprising, but disappointing nonetheless.

 

[Calibro]

The FGC is one again snubbed by TGA, no surprise here really.

 

[NoirSuede]

I use to play with Arslan's crew and even sponsored them for a while through my company named Gaminar 2012-2013 (all the main names, Arslan/Awais/Heera and more... all the pics are still on FB), you may have heard of me playing as Fahdi. But I am the average competition there and mince meat for these players now, I was decent back in the day and would win sets here and there against these behemoths. I played best of 5 against Arslan recently and came out with 0-5 in Arslan's favor with at least 2 perfects on my ass and only 1 round won XD. But its a privelage to play against the world champ.

Besides that eSports is not taken seriously on this country because everyone is so busy surviving. The Tekken scene itself is an anomaly that some of these guys dedicated so much time against all odds. Its frowned upon in our culture and joked about being kiddy. I bet that eSports money isn't a joke anymore hence RedBull sponsored him full time.

Click to shrink...

I apologize if this sounds rude but do you know where Atif Butt got his hame from?

 

[Rommaz]

I use to play with Arslan's crew and even sponsored them for a while through my company named Gaminar 2012-2013 (all the main names, Arslan/Awais/Heera and more... all the pics are still on FB), you may have heard of me playing as Fahdi. But I am the average competition there and mince meat for these players now, I was decent back in the day and would win sets here and there against these behemoths. I played best of 5 against Arslan recently and came out with 0-5 in Arslan's favor with at least 2 perfects on my ass and only 1 round won XD. But its a privelage to play against the world champ.

Besides that eSports is not taken seriously on this country because everyone is so busy surviving. The Tekken scene itself is an anomaly that some of these guys dedicated so much time against all odds. Its frowned upon in our culture and joked about being kiddy. I bet that eSports money isn't a joke anymore hence RedBull sponsored him full time.

Click to shrink...

That's actually really cool dude. It's amazing how the scene has been there for a long time, people like Spaghetti Rip have been talking about it, but it just never had the chance to blow up internationally till now

And yeah The perception towards eSports is really bad in many places. It's nice to see people like Arslan help turn it around in Pakistan(been seeing mainstream Pakistani news outlets pick up on his story).