The 16 amazingly strong competitors advance to the Esports World Cup 2025 after achieving top placements at big FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves tournaments.
We can see a mind-blowing display of how quickly fighting game players adapt to a new title — up to winning top events and qualifying for the Esports World Cup (EWC). FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves (FATAL FURY CotW) was released at the end of April. The EWC tournament in Riyadh is happening less than three months later.
The adaptation included battling in tense qualifiers, while players had to figure out new characters. The previous instalment of the FATAL FURY series was released back in 1999. The gap between that title, Mark of the Wolves, and the newest one is totally tangible.
Since it’s an SNK game, part of the fighting games community (FGC) that comes from The King of Fighters series has some advantages. Many FATAL FURY characters are present in KOF XV. Such players as the legendary Xiaohai know them perfectly well.
However, the mechanics of FATAL FURY CotW make the game properly unique. We can see players from Street Fighter, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Guilty Gear, and others rushing to it and reaching impressive heights. The pro community is forming, and the Esports World Cup 2025 highlights the first elite.
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All FATAL FURY CotW EWC participants
There were nine qualifiers for the fighting games players to reach the final event of the FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves Esports World Cup 2025.
In the table below, you’ll find the list of these tournaments, the FATAL FURY CotW EWC participants, and the characters they won their spots with.
Qualifier | Player — Character |
|---|---|
| EVO Japan 2025 | Xiaohai — Billy, Hotaru Fenritti — Kain |
| Brussels Challenge Major Edition 2025 | GO1 — Marco Poongko — Gato |
| Combo Breaker 2025 | Reynald — Kain NYChrisG — Hokutomaru GatoRB — Gato |
| Battle Arena Melbourne 15 | HotaruZJZ — Hotaru Kindevu — Hotaru |
| Headstomper 2025 | DarkAngel — Terry |
| CEO 2025 | Nemo — Billy KojiKOG — Billy ET — Hokutomaru |
| City of the Cream LIVE | TheGio — Hokutomaru |
| Hessen Crash XXII | xyzzy — Billy |
| SNK Championship Series: Beijing | mok — Hokutomaru |
The FATAL FURY CotW Esports World Cup 2025 event goes on from July 10 to July 12. All the participants are divided into four groups. The initial stage includes group brackets — winners of the upper and lower finals advance to the playoffs.
The main part of the FATAL FURY EWC consists of single-elimination brackets. This means that even one loss in the starting matches is elimination. In addition to the grand final, the tournament features a third placement match.
Esports World Cup 2025 includes two more fighting games tournaments. The TEKKEN 8 event is from Aug. 13 to Aug. 16. The Street Fighter 6 EWC is from Aug. 20 to Aug. 23.
For more FATAL FURY and fighting games news and updates, stick around on esports.gg.
