The context of the viral meltdown at EVO’s Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves tournament has been unearthed by fighting games fans. The reaction by Kazuyuki ‘KojiKOG’ Koji against Goichi “GO1” Kishida took the internet by storm with over 18.5m views on the original tweet, as well as dozens of edits to create memes from the moment.
The viral esports crash out came as esports betting site favourite, GO1, closed the match against competitor ‘KojiKOG,’ cause the ensuing histrionics that took Twitter/X by storm.
The moment gained virality, spreading on Twitter with many of esports’ top names sharing the moment, some with jokes about it and others with sympathy, having faced similar scenarios in their career. One such case was Rainbow Six Siege X caster, Derry ‘Dezachu’ Holt
Dezachu stated, “Esports equivalent of a generational crash out, holy s**t haha. Walk away with a few months’ rent instead of generational wealth”
The “generational wealth” comment comes from the qualification spot available to the SNK World Championship 2025 Finals. While the winner of Evo won $15,000, the event qualified a player for the World Championship, which has a prize pool of a whopping $2,500,000.
However, while competitors could have made themselves a pathway to “generational wealth” through Evo, the viral reaction did not come from KojiKOG being eliminated from the tournament. Instead, it was the Upper-Bracket Semi-Final, so KojiKOG could still have progressed after the loss at that time. So why did he react that way?
Original context of the Fatal Fury ‘crash out’
The reaction simply seems to just be a joke between friends and competitors, which explains GO1’s nonchalant reaction to his fellow gamer’s immense suffering. The reaction mirrors a reaction in a match between the two players 10 years ago, when Evo looked extremely different to what it has become.
At Evo 2015, the two were playing on the floor of a hotel/casino as a few people watched on. In 2025, they were in front of an arena, with their names in lights, but evidently, they still have the same spirit of friendship all these years later.
When KojiKOG was eventually actually eliminated in the lower bracket against Lee ‘Poongko’ Chung-gon, KojiKOG’s reaction was a simple handshake and wrapping up his controller’s wires. In other words, no display of incredible despair.
As for GO1, he went on to win the tournament.
So the reaction is just a joke, but that won’t stop us from enjoying some of the memes that came out of it:
Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.