The winners and losers of the FGC in 2025

As predicted, 2025 was a giant 12 months for the combating sport neighborhood (FGC). Nonetheless, not each title had an equally profitable season.

This 12 months was filled with huge FGC occasions, thrilling new video games and shocking downfalls. As everybody heads into 2026, Esports Insider takes a have a look at the combating video games that had the very best 2025, and people who struck out with the FGC.

Let’s first check out the combating sport scenes that dominated all year long, from promising new entries to the continued dominance of iconic titles.

Deadly Fury: Metropolis of the Wolves took Greatest Combating at The Sport Awards 2025, which got here as no shock to the FGC. It was the one fully new combating sport launched in 2025 on the listing, so it appeared like a free win. Nonetheless, Deadly Fury earned it the old style manner all year long.

Riot Video games’ 2v2 combating sport is simply in Early Entry, and it’s nonetheless confirmed to shake up the combating sport scene fully. With Riot decided to carry 2XKO to mainstream audiences and a neighborhood of combating sport followers which are excited by its advanced gameplay, 2XKO is probably going going to be a high FGC title in 2026.

Regardless of a really unpopular Season 2 replace that left the sport feeling a bit too simplified for the aggressive scene, Tekken 8 has continued to dominate the FGC scene. Its Evo viewership was spectacular, however what has made Tekken stand out within the FGC this 12 months was its storylines.

Particularly, Arslan Ash. His 2025 was unbelievable, including two extra Evo titles to his lengthy listing of victories. He obtained a Crimson Bull documentary about his undisputed spot on the high of Tekken 8 esports, creating loads of thrilling storylines and passionate rivalries heading into the sport’s subsequent season.

Sadly, not each combating sport title had the identical quantity of help and hype this 12 months. These are the video games that seem like struggling to stay related because the FGC panorama evolves.

Mortal Kombat is a traditional combating sport sequence that dates all the way in which again to the arcades. Whereas it has remained considerably fashionable, it has struggled to seek out success in recent times as a consequence of Mortal Kombat 1‘s unpopular adjustments to the sport’s core mechanics and fighter movesets.

After Mortal Kombat 1 struggled to get signups for Evo 2025, followers had been saddened, however not shocked, to see the sport’s omission within the Evo 2026 line-up. Its elimination was a harsh wakeup name for the MK1 esports scene, with its followers fast in charge NetherRealm for its gradual updates and poor design selections.

Tremendous Smash Bros. has all the time been on the wrestle bus, so 2025 wasn’t actually something new. Small prize swimming pools and low viewership are simply a part of the problem for Smash, which has no help from Nintendo. Nonetheless, the dedication and dedication of the scene’s neighborhood, particularly Melee, have stored the scene alive (perhaps even out of spite).

The explanation Smash is talked about right here can also be as a consequence of an unlucky finish to the 12 months, which noticed Nintendo being very, very gradual to approve Tremendous Smash Bros. licenses to match organisers. This left many massive, long-running majors, like Battle Of BC, sharing match line-ups with out Melee or Final current subsequent 12 months.

It undoubtedly hasn’t given followers a lot hope going into 2026.

As soon as claimed to be a potential “Smash killer,” MultiVersus was shut down in Could 2025. On-line servers at the moment are completely offline.

MultiVersus had a brief esports run, usually showing in tournaments alongside Tremendous Smash Bros. because it constructed up an esports scene and fanbase. Many within the FGC believed it had an opportunity to be nice, accusing builders of hindering the sport’s progress with questionable selections, equivalent to locked characters.