FaZe Clan expand into FGC with Tekken duo
FaZe Clan YouTubeFaZe Clan has announced the signing of Tekken players Haktan “HK Jr.” Kocaman and Joseph “Joey Fury” Bennett ahead of the start of the Gamers8 event.
FaZe Clan has signed two Tekken players as the organization’s first foray into hard-core fighting game esports. The esports organization does have a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate pro, Edgar ‘Sparg0’ Valdez, signed on, but the company hasn’t ventured into the fighting game community much beyond the Nintendo title before now.
Tekken players HK Jr., from Germany, and Joey Fury, from the United States of America, are now both members of FaZe Clan.
Joey Fury is a veteran Tekken competitor, starting his career in 2016, and is currently ranked in the top 50 players on the 2023 Tekken World Tour. He is considered one of the best players in North America and recently placed first at the PlayStation Tournaments FGC Arcade: Road to EVO 2023.
HK Jr. is a relatively new professional Tekken player as he started playing on the pro circuit regularly in 2022. The German player recently won Head Stomper, a Tekken World Tour Challenger event in Sweden, and placed third at Red Bull Golden Letters 2023. He is considered a rising European talent.
Joey Fury and HK Jr. join FaZe Clan
Both players are going to represent FaZe at the Gamer8 Tekken 7 event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event is set to start on July 6 and has a $1 million prize pool.
“It’s a dream come true. From having FaZe in my clan tag over 10 years ago to having FaZe in my name now. I am ready to give my all and represent FaZe on the biggest stage,” HK Jr. said on Twitter.
The two are expected to also compete and represent FaZe Clan at the biggest fighting game tournament of the year, EVO 2023, in August.
Though Tekken 7 is still an extremely popular fighting game, Tekken 8 is bound to bring in new players when it launches. It’s an exciting signing now, but also has the potential to secure FaZe Clan two strong Tekken players as the eighth entry in the series looks to take over the FGC.