A five-year-old’s surprising Tekken skills at a tournament are going viral, leading Director Katsuhiro Harada to respond to the boy’s talent.
On January 26, footage emerged of a beginners’ Tekken 8 tournament from the Rox³ CUP showing a five-year-old competing against a grown man and amazingly holding his own.
In the video, the five-year-old used Victor Chevalier against his opponent’s Marshall Law and did well, even taking the first two games in the match back-to-back.
“He’s good at using special styles, and even shying away from sideways and guarding,” observers noted. “Apparently the dad next door is a hardcore Tekken player and has been influenced by him, so now they play against each other!”
Unfortunately, the skilled child was unable to secure the victory, narrowly losing in a close game 5, but the boy showed promise, so much in fact that Harada showered him with praise.
5-year-old’s Tekken skills amaze Harada
In a post on X, Harada drew attention to the five-year-old, saying he has a “promising future” in the fighting game community.
“Victor is just 5 years old! He’s got a bright future ahead of him,” the Tekken boss remarked.
He further pointed out that the ESRB gave Tekken a “Teen” rating and while some may take issue with a youngster playing a game outside of his age group, Harada literally couldn’t care less.
“By the way, the ESRB rating is TEEN, but who cares,” he added.
Fans eagerly agreed with Harada’s assessment, sharing their own thoughts on age ratings in the process and how they should be followed.
“Yeah the ESRB rating didn’t mean anything in my life,” one said. “This young one will go places if he keeps it up!”
“ESRB just recommends, they can’t prohibit anyone from playing. So yeah, who cares!” echoed another.
“I always saw them as more of a suggestion,” someone else chimed in.
This five-year-old isn’t the first younger gamer to blow up the internet. Back in 2021, a six-month-old baby hit an insane Warzone snipe and went viral on TikTok.
In 2022, an eight-year-old girl made waves after going on a decent Smash Ultimate tournament run with Kirby after winning a handful of games.