Twitch Rivals is a tournament series, owned by Twitch and hosted on their own platform, aimed to unite streamers and influential broadcasters in competition. In the past, games such as League of Legends, Valorant, Fortnite, and FIFA 21 have been routinely featured on Twitch Rivals. Trending titles on the other end of the esports spectrum including Among Us and, recently, Fall Guys have also made appearances on Twitch Rivals.
Occasionally, there are games featured on Twitch Rivals that break the normalcy. These are the games that are niche enough in the esports world to turn heads, yet have a grounded enough history to showcase years of support. One such title back in November was Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 to great success. Its success was enough to push another fighting game in the spotlight, Killer Instinct.
On November 23rd, Twitch Rivals teamed up with popular Twitch streamer and fighting game content creator Maximilian Dood to host UMvC3 Lives. The tournament, as the title suggested, aimed to bring Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 back in the spotlight. The tournament, reaching record numbers in viewership, was a major success. In hopes of replicating the success of UMvC3 Lives, Maxmilian has partnered with Twitch Rivals once again to host a Killer Instinct tournament. The tournament, BringBackKI, will broadcast on February 1st at 4 PM PST.
Compared to Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Rare's Killer Instinct has remained stagnant. Released in 2013 as a launch title for the Xbox One, Killer Instinct was the first game in the series in almost 17 years. Since its launch, despite a healthy community, there has been no news involving the development of a new Killer Instinct title.
It is because of its healthy community, however, that the game continues to thrive eight years later. Few have been as passionate about Killer Instinct as Maximilian over the years, often regarded as the face of the game itself. Much like with UMvC3 Lives, the intent for BringBackKI will mean to bring awareness to a game that is long deserving of a sequel in some capacity.
With the release of the new Arcade1Up arcade cabinets, fans of the series are now able to play arcade-perfect versions of Killer Instinct and Killer Instinct 2. While this is a step in the right direction, for many fans holding out on their favorite series, it's not enough. Hopefully, the Killer Instinct Twitch Rivals tournament can re-ignite the spark of many who had forgotten about the franchise and, in turn, push the fan's demand for a new addition to the Killer Instinct series.