Street Fighter V’s North American championships kick off November 4

Hopefully, Red Bull is not a performance-enhancing drug, because Street Fighter pros are probably gonna get to drink a lot of it at an upcoming event.

Capcom is partnering with Red Bull Media House to host the Capcom Pro Tour North American Finals at the Red Bull Battle Grounds esports gathering November 4 through November 6 at the Seattle Exhibition Hall. This will bring together the best Street Fighter V players from around the continent to compete for the championship before going on to compete in the World Championship. Red Bull and Capcom expect more than 1,000 people to turn out for a chance at glory, and it is also holding a number of satellite events that will act as regional qualifiers. Red Bull is already heavily invested in esports as the company sees this $892 million business as a great way of reaching the key demographic of young people between the ages of 15 and 34.

Red Bull is backing the Capcom Pro Tour as Street Fighter V finds itself in a precarious relationship with its fans. Capcom launched the fighting game in February with only the bare minimum in terms of features. The publisher promised to add more with updates, but it has already started delaying characters. This has caused many in the Street Fighter community to start complaining about how Capcom rushed out an incomplete game that it should’ve delayed or marketed as “early access.”

Red Bull’s Proving Grounds qualifiers will start this summer in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Toronto. The winner of each of those tournaments will travel at Red Bull’s expense to its Santa Monica Esports Studio for a spot on the Finals bracket at Battle Grounds.

The events will stream live on Twitch, but you can also attend in person by purchasing tickets from Red Bull Battle Grounds official website.