ALASKA FGC SCENE
by Blinka, Writer
March 21, 2025 at 1:07pm
The fighting game community feels more like a global community more than ever before. The days of international players competing with each other only once in a blue moon are long gone. Tournament streams have tens of thousands of viewers from all over the world. Fighting games now support smooth connections between players from anywhere to everywhere. Despite the connectedness, regional pride is still alive and well. Players regularly hype their region on social media, and there’s no better feeling than invading another region and winning, or defending your turf as the hometown hero. Despite players traveling between regions to compete in tournaments, it’s still rare to see outsiders take on the Anchorage scene. After all, it’s nearly 1,400 miles from the continental United States.
“The FGC in Alaska is a very welcoming community,” said Joshua “Alisto” Nebrida. “The first time I joined one of AKGamers’ tournaments, I was greeted by a lot of other players and felt great even after losing.” AKGamers is the biggest tournament organizer in Alaska, typically hosting their events near Anchorage, by far the state’s biggest city. Still, Anchorage has a comparatively smaller population than many cities.
With a population of around 286,000, it’s around the size of Lincoln, Nebraska or St. Louis, Missouri. That’s only by population, though. Anchorage is immensely large, with a land mass of over five times the size of New York City. The only American cities larger than Anchorage are also in Alaska, all with noticeably smaller populations.“As someone who’s lived in Anchorage, Alaska my whole life, I can say that the community here is small. Not just in the FGC, but as a whole,” Alisto told me.
University of Alaska Anchorage is the largest of three state colleges in Alaska, with over 10,000 students. Like at many other colleges across the world, the gaming scene there is a core part of life for some students. “I wouldn't know too much about other cities in the Lower 48,” said Ian “BlockD116” Barrera, “but I'm willing to bet that the gaming scene in Anchorage is similar to how it is everywhere else, just on a smaller scale.” “It's been a great experience,” remarked Carson “CarCheerio” Hastie, “fighting games seem to be the biggest scene here, and they always welcome newcomers.” Due to their physical separation from the rest of the American FGC and the rest of collegiate esports, they’ve developed a tight-knit group that works to build each other up. Not just in Street Fighter or Guilty Gear, but in all parts of their lives.
Alisto told me, “We are always doing our best to gain more players and grow as a whole. But to an extent, our small community is a blessing in disguise because we are closer to each other than other communities. We always support each other and enjoy each other’s company.” Despite the physical barrier still remaining, the students at University of Alaska Anchorage now have an opportunity to compete with schools from across the Lower 48. From the inaugural season, UAA has been a fierce competitor in CFGC. “It’s honestly really coincidental how I found out about CFGC,” said Colton “aKlye” Stein, “I got a ping from the UAA Esports Lounge Discord announcing that they’d be participating in CFGC the day after I was admitted to Uni, and I figured “Why the hell not?”
It was a perfect opportunity at the perfect time.” University of Alaska Anchorage has four players competing across three titles, with several players competing in multiple games. Given the chance to compete against anyone and everyone, they’re ready to perform. “I have always been into fighting games over every other genre,” said Alisto, “ I’m captivated by the execution, reactions, and skill needed to play these games. So I was excited to hear about CFGC because I want to show off my fighting game skills to other players. I also want to play against these other players to see how I can improve my own gameplay.”
Alaska isn’t a state many often think about. It’s one of only two that are physically disconnected from the rest of the continental United States, and it doesn’t contain many well known tourist destinations. To those that live there, though, it’s home. “I grew up in the Philippines until I was six, before me and my dad moved here in 2010 for a way to make better wages to support our family in Alaska and our family back home,” BlockD116 told me. “I really like Alaska due to how relatively quiet it is. I used to live in Barrow (another city in Alaska) for 12 years and it's a totally crazy experience in terms of how different everything works there. Alaska as a whole feels like it's separated from all the crazy stuff that goes on in other states and I do feel I can mostly relax here without worrying about anything else.”
“It’s got its ups and downs,” aKlye told me about Alaska. “The scenery up here is beautiful, especially in the summertime. That being said, wintertime is quite frankly awful. Lots of snowfall and icy roads make me unhappy. Also, the cost of living up here is rather expensive. I went to UAA in order to see if college was something I wanted to pursue, and so far I find it gratifying. Chances are that I’ll continue my education here for the foreseeable future.” Alaska has its pros and cons, just like anywhere else. It also has a fighting game scene that deeply cares for its community, and a population that cares deeply about their state. “I was born and raised in Alaska,” said Banky Kitchpanich, one of the TOs for AKGamers and longtime resident of The Last Frontier.
“Living here for thirty-plus years. I love how easy it is for us to access the beauty of Alaska, something I think a lot of younger people here take for granted. It definitely has its downs, like things being so expensive or being so far away from the Lower 48, but for me the pros outweigh the cons. Summertime here in Alaska is simply unbeatable... the winter, not so much.”
