There's no question that Street Fighter V is one of the featured fighting games in modern esports. With 2,622 entrants to its tournament at the Evolution Championship Series 2017, the game features the largest prize pool at this year's event ($76,220).
Look a little more closely and you'll see a game climbing in the ranks swiftly: Injustice 2. With 883 entrants at Evo 2017, Injustice 2 is the fifth-largest tournament at the event, but it carries a $58,830 prize pool, thanks mainly to a $50,000 pot bonus.
Release and Rise
Injustice 2 is in its infancy. Released on May 11 of this year, Evo will be the game's third significant tournament following CEO and Combo Breaker earlier this year. The main difference between Evo and the previous two tournaments: prize pool. Players will compete for more money at Evo 2017 than the previous two tournaments combined.
Prize Pools - Injustice 2 Tournaments
EVO 2017 $58,830
CEO 2017 $24,000
Combo Breaker 2017 $23,910
There will actually be more total prize money at stake in Injustice 2 at Evo 2017 than was awarded in total in 117 tournaments of Injustice: Gods Among Us.
Competitive scene
You might recognize names from the previous Mortal Kombat like Dominique "Sonic Fox" McLean, Sayed "Tekken Master" Hashem, Frank "Slayer" Perales and Christian "Forever King" Quiles competing at Evo 2017 in Injustice 2. Of the players to make a top-four finish at either Combo Breaker or CEO in Injustice 2, only Nicholas "Whiteboi" Andersen has not earned winnings in professional Mortal Kombat.
SonicFox's involvement in Injustice 2 could lead to significant increase in the game's esports popularity. According to esportsearnings.com, he is the highest-earning fighting game player active today, making over $323,000 from tournaments in his career.
The key to Injustice 2 taking off may revolve around SonicFox's future involvement. He is the only player among the top 15 highest-earning fighting game players who has not specialized in a form of Street Fighter or Super Smash Bros. Essentially, he stands out as the game's one true, pure "superstar."
Game Design and Mechanics
Injustice 2 comes with a roster of 30 fighters, which will eventually expand to 38, of characters across the DC Comics Universe. Some of the names (Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman) are immediately recognizable, but they are not necessarily the best characters in the game. On the professional circuit, success has been found with characters such as Deadshot, Black Adam, Atrocitus, and Scarecrow.
What makes Injustice 2 intriguing is the complexity of its gameplay. Relative to Street Fighter V, performing combos in Injustice 2 can be difficult and complex, and are similar in structure to Mortal Kombat.
Next, add in meter burns, which isn't unique to Injustice, but certainly adds to the depth of the fighter. Meter burns allow players to lengthen combinations and perform different actions based on situation, such as empowered special move or wager in a clash. Knowing when to burn meter and when to not for one character becomes more difficult since every character has their own strengths, weaknesses, good special moves and bad ones, good matchups and bad matchups, etc.
Meter burns are critical to success in Injustice 2, but building a full meter could lead to devastation for either fighter. As fights develop, players can build up their meter until its full, meaning they can perform a character's super move (a move unique to each character that begins an animation that deals massive damage). It might appear initially that building up to and performing a super move would be the ideal strategy, but Injustice 2's game design places importance on meter burns, and most pros opt for the flexibility of burning a bit of meter over saving for a super move.