LAHORE: Hundreds of gamers packed a Lahore shopping mall this weekend for a major international esports tournament that organizers say has set a new participation record, as the country seeks to capitalize on its growing reputation as a global powerhouse in competitive Tekken.

Takedown 2026, held at Packages Mall on Sept. 4-6, brought Pakistani gamers face-to-face with leading international players for competitions including Tekken 8, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, and Street Fighter 6. The Tekken competition came as part of the 2026 Tekken World Tour.

Organizers said 672 players registered for the Tekken 8 competition, the largest turnout for a Challenger-level event in Tekken World Tour history. The previous record, they said, was 555 participants at Takedown 2025.

“This event specifically has set a world record,” Daniyal Nasir Mirza, director of content at Baaz Esports company that organized the event, told Arab News.

“Never in the history of this planet have we seen 672 participants in a Tekken World Tour Challenger event.”

Mirza said the tournament was designed not only to bring international competition to Pakistan but to give local players a global platform without visa and sponsorship hurdles that often prevent them from competing overseas.

“We have world-class talent through and through,” he said. “The idea for Baaz Takedown is to bring big tournaments here so that our local players can show how good they really are to the international audience.”

Pakistan has emerged as a formidable force in competitive Tekken since Arslan ‘Ash’ Siddique shot to international prominence in 2019. In June, Siddique bagged his eighth Evolution Championship Series (EVO) title after winning the Tekken tournament in Las Vegas.

Pakistan clinched another major title last month when Muhammad Zubair won the Tekken 8 competition at the 2026 Esports World Cup in Paris, where Siddique finished fourth.

Siddique, who competed at Takedown 2026 event in Lahore, said hosting international players at home marked a significant change for Pakistan’s gaming community.

“Earlier we used to go out of the country to play internationally,” he told Arab News. “Gaming has increased a lot in Pakistan, which is beneficial for everyone. The newcomers are also watching it, and they can make a career in it.”

The tournament also attracted prominent international competitors, including players from South Korea, the Philippines and Greece.

Greek professional gamer K-Top, who won the Fatal Fury competition at Takedown 2026, said Pakistan had the potential to establish itself among the leading esports nations.

“The gaming future in this country is huge,” he told Arab News. “You have so many talented players that are really some of the best in the world in many games.”

International tournaments in Pakistan allowed the rest of the world to see the strength of the country’s fighting game community while giving foreign competitors an opportunity to test themselves against Pakistani talent, according to K-Top.

GROWING COMMUNITY

Syed Mustahib Naqvi, a 30-year-old entrepreneur who participated in the tournament, said seeing Pakistani players compete against international opponents demonstrated the depth of local talent.

“There are some players who are underdogs, and they have given a very good challenge to big players like Ulsan,” Naqvi told Arab News. “Some people have won, and they are in the finals.”

Naqvi said Pakistan deserved to host even bigger international competitions given the country’s performance in fighting games.

“Pakistan is good in this field,” he said. “I think they should give us bigger events than this also.”

Beyond professional competition, Takedown featured gaming experiences for the public as well as stalls, collectibles, cosplay and other activities.

Nausherwan Ahmed, a 27-year-old banker who participated in the event and has attended all three editions till date, said such tournaments were helping turn what was once a niche community into something more visible.

“The most positive thing is that the people who watch this, they also want to get involved in fighting games,” he said. “This has made our community grow even more.”

Atif Ijaz, a professional Tekken player known as Falcon Atif, said public perceptions of gaming had also begun to change over the past five or six years as Pakistani players increasingly competed internationally.

“People are participating in tournaments. People are coming to know about the benefits of gaming,” he said.

INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

Mirza said the 2025 edition of Takedown drew millions of online views from audiences in dozens of countries, giving relatively unknown Pakistani players exposure to international teams and sponsors.

But despite Pakistan’s growing record of international esports victories, he said the sector remained heavily dependent on private investment and needed greater institutional support.

“The government needs to take a bit more notice because this is the one sport we’re actually winning things in,” Mirza said.

“We’re bringing in the best players from around the world. We’re giving that platform to our up-and-coming talent.”

For players like Siddique, the growing crowds and arrival of international competitors in Lahore are signs that a gaming culture once largely confined to arcades and small local tournaments is developing into a viable competitive ecosystem.

“I’m very happy that gaming is being promoted like this,” he said.