The first esports partnership between the two major Japanese brands has ended and left esports professionals and fans feeling full of happiness. Their collaboration at Capcom Cup 2019 this past December was an absolute success. If you don’t know already, a Pocky K.O. is when a player defeats their opponent while maintaining their own health bar in the Pocky ratio. This means that the player’s missing health will resemble the chocolate portion of a Pocky and their remaining health will resemble the biscuit stick.
To commemorate their collaboration, this year’s Capcom Cup featured a special exhibition from top SFV pros that took each other on in the Pocky K.O. Challenge. The exhibition was fought using Street Fighter V Pocky EDITION, with an exclusive Pocky themed user interface. Participating pro players were 801 STRIDER, ROBTV and a special guest Kenny Omega. All competitors battled fiercely, but ultimately the Pocky K.O. Champion was ROBTV who received Winner cup. ROBTV showed us a truly intense Pocky K.O.. The winner expressed “I’m the best Pocky(Edition) player in the world! ” interviewed by James Chen, the voice of Street Fighter. “Obviously we always play the game extremely seriously. Doing Pocky K.O. Challenge was really refreshing to be able to have fun. It was definitely challenging but enjoyed a lot ” he also mentioned at the individual interview.
The arena was packed with SFV and Pocky fans. Crowds bubbled with anticipation and roared with excitement whenever a Pocky K.O. was scored. In addition, fans were able to watch the action at home via Twitch and YouTube. Fans from around the globe tuned in to watch the exhibition. Capcom Cup also featured demo stations where attendees could openly experience SFV Pocky EDITION themselves. Fans got fired up as many scored amazing Pocky K.O.s. Luffy, who ranked 13th in Capcom Cup 2019, commented ”As a pro gamer, we always play games very seriously, and I go to play with my friends for fun! It was very fun actually.” And other challengers said “Experience is very fun, I really like the challenge”, ”Greatly difficult but it was a fun game absolutely”.
Throughout the Pocky K.O. Challenge campaign players were invited to upload videos of their Pocky K.O.’s and share them on Twitter with the hashtag #PockyKO. A lot of players from all over the world shared videos of their Pocky K.O. kills to Twitter. During the Capcom Cup, videos from 11 lucky fans were showcased for attendees and viewers on Twitch and YouTube. In addition, popular influencers including Justin Wong, Cross Counter TV, JohnCrofts and more stepped up to the Pocky K.O. challenge and shared their footage, take a look at some captures of the highlights in the following.
The campaign garnered global exposure as news of its success was picked up by esports Observer, Gaming Trend, Geek Culture, Hollywood Reporter and more. Capcom reports that they are content with how the collaboration turned out. “It was a very crazy idea but also a very creative project and we were able to achieve a great result as a Street Fighter team. I’m grateful for the collaboration on the project.” said Mr. Shuhei Matsumoto, Producer of the Street Fighter V.
Pocky “shared happiness” with Capcom Cup attendees as limited-edition SFV design Pocky packages were distributed to fans. These gift treats were wrapped in a special graphic package featuring an illustration of classic Street Fighter characters Ryu and Chun-Li sharing a pack of Pocky. Pocky gained a valuable foothold in the esports community as it established itself as the perfect snack to eat in between games and while watching. The snack’s unique biscuit stick keeps the delicious chocolate from covering a player or person’s fingers, while also providing a satisfying crunch to each bite. The collaborative SFV design Pocky packages are available for purchase now!
See below for details:
- Available online from December 13th (Subject to availability) Online Purchase: Asian Food Grocer ( https://www.asianfoodgrocer.
com/glico-streetfighter-crate) . - Available in-stores from January 13th (Subject to availability) Participating Retailers: Select It’s Sugar, Hot Topic and FYE locations
