TEPPEN reveals, 2020 esports plans, new expansion showcasing Akuma, Evil Ryu, and new cards.

Today, during the end of the TEPPEN World Championship, Gung-Ho and Capcom revealed the trailer for their newest expansion titled “The Force Seekers”.

The expansions explore the dark side of Street Fighter and introduced a new playable hero Akuma, a new skin for Ryu, Evil Ryu, and a 1 new mechanic to the game. When asked, TEPPEN developers confirmed that any and all Capcom IP’s are available to enter the game and the development team is always thinking of new IP’s that would fit into the world of TEPPEN.

So even though this expansion further explores the games Street Fighter characters, new IPs are still a possibility in the future.

The most exciting reveal was Akuma from the Street Fighter universe. Akuma is associated with the Black color, meaning that if players choose this new character, their deckbuilding options must feature this color or suffer mana penalities.

The new mechanic is called Ascended. So far, ascended units can only become so via Akuma's new hero art. When a unit is ascended, they become more powerful while also destroying any enemy unit currently in front of them. Once a unit as ascended, they can not be ascended again.

There are also new cards. Four were shown during the world championship: Master of the Fist Akuma, Demon- God Oni, Infernal Magma Dragon and Cruel Game.

Free cards

The new expansion often comes with new ways to gain new cards. One event encourages players to add friends within the game client -- add 10 friends by January 10th and be rewarded with, you guessed it, free cards.

During the release of The Force Seekers on the 7th of January, players are encouraged to log in throughout the holiday season to receive tons of seasonal log-in rewards.

The first log-in bonus is from December 21s to January 1st. The second period is from January 1st to January 7th -- both opportunities will net players free packs and special cards.

In addition, new event missions (single-player modes that give new cards after defeating them) will be available upon the release of the expansion.

Esports

Esports was also a central part of the new announcements revealed at the end of the 2019 World Championships. The TEPPEN New Year Cup is an online event that will run from 12/24 to 12/30. Depending on how players perform during this ladder event, different secret cards will be awarded (the highest-ranked players will receive all 3 secret cards)

▲ Huai- Yong Wu AKA "Last Guardian became the TEPPEN world Champion. Among his numerous prizes was a brand new car and 30,000,000 Yen (Roughly 300K in USD)

For more competitive players, TEPPEN is also creating numerous ways to qualify for the 2020 TEPPEN World Championships. Tour points, offline tournaments, and online tournaments will all net points that will determine 2020 Championship eligibility.

Lastly, TEPPEN will be featured during the Taipei Game Show. The Taipei Game Show Cup will give more players all over the world a chance to experience TEPPEN and likely earn points for next years Championship.