For decades, video games have been a social venture for many. This has its roots in the arcade era, before home consoles and LED-laden gaming PCs led the gaming enthusiasts away from the outside world and into the comfort of their own homes. These social spaces are still around in LANs, gaming cafes, and tournaments, but have shrunk far from their relevance in the hearts of the many. You used to meet Greg face to face playing Counter Strike Source or Street Fighter 2 out on the town. Now, Greg’s face has been replaced with a Clannad profile picture on Discord. Times have changed.
But there are still those who venture out for a taste of some real socialization. A select few for whom gaming isn’t as sweet unless shared with likeminded folks within walking or driving distance. While these digital churches are slowly dropping off, a passionate few have decided to document such places through the lens of grassroots fighting game tournaments in a new video series: Locals Unknown. Their first stop, the basement of a college town pizza parlor.
I love this idea, and as such sat down with two of the people involved in the project. Victeemo, a professional fighting game player, and Siam who owns the esports team Kanme Esports. Together, with additional help from Tekken player and King main Sol Naciente, the small crew has taken it upon themselves to document local scenes and spaces they come across in their travels. It’s very classic YouTube, a ragtag blend of old internet vlogging with T.V travel documentaries.
The project started at the start of Victeemo’s time as a player represented by Kanme, as both he and Siam decided some sort of creative content would make for a good addition to the usual output of just showing up to events while repping the brand.
Siam: “When talking with Victeemo, we were both very passionate about where we started in the fighting game community, which was our local scene. Local scenes are very important places! They’re starting points for people who are interested in the games, and some of them are in very different locations.”
Victeemo: “At the end of the Tekken World Tour season 1 I was looking around for sponsors, and I came across Kanme. It was funny, we both discovered Locals Unknown together […] We brainstormed a little bit, and then Sian went ‘what if we send you around to locals, and you document locals?’ I thought that was a great idea, and something I wanted to touch on.”
“I’m primarily first a competitor, and have been that since the beginning of Tekken 7, but my second priority is community. It’s really exciting and I’m happy to be doing this, and that it caught so many eyes.”
Victeemo, who had never used a video camera prior to Locals Unknown, is now going around and recording locals at their best. He’s backed up by Siam and Sol_Naciente, who take the time to edit it back home. No big-corporate finance, just a bit of passion for the community and a can-do attitude.
The pair shared a lot in common, as you’d expect. But they also shared a loss familiar with many competitors in the fighting game space. Their locals, the ones they grew up in, improved within, and found friendships at, had closed. Xanadu Games, a Maryland institution for fighting game players, held its final event in December 2024. Both Siam and Victeemo were there to see it off.
Victeemo: “We had a local called Xanadu, it was inside this very small building in a business centre right outside Baltimore city. When the game came out, we stuffed it with 50 people for monthly locals where you could barely breath (laugh). That I think gave me the drive to compete at a higher level, but also gave me that love for the community aspect.”
Siam: “A lot of places have started to shut down. Even recently, one of the venues we used to go to has gone out of business – Xanadu Games. Me and Victeemo went to that place, and we were at the closing of the final event there. Seeing that, we wanted to put a microscope on the venues that still do exist.”
This was the kindling for the series itself, but it’s not only due to Xanadu. Local scenes where games like Street Fighter, Tekken, and more have been played for years have been steadily shutting down over the past few years, replaced with larger but scarcer annual events or nothing at all. It is, in the minds of both Siam and Victeemo, a rough time for the fighting game local.
Siam: I would say it’s a very tough time (for local scenes). The convenience of online is there, especially post-2020. Before 2020 there were still readily available places. But after 2020 online tournaments became the go-to [activity]. Places that we could go to started going out of business, as they weren’t getting the same number of people as they were prior. So right now, it’s on the decline.”
Victeemo: “There are a lot of locals right now closing their doors, so to be able to shine a light on these locals that try to get people out there to experience the community, make new friends and relationships, is really important in comparison to the online scene right now.”
So why do all this? What’s so important about these spaces that warrant a video series, and an article highlighting it. Well, in the mind of the duo, it’s about paying back to the locals they came up in, and shining a spotlight on the environment that meant so much to them.
Victeemo: “My partner and I, we’ve been together going on seven years now, and it’s because we met through the fighting game community at Xanadu. I’ve built life-long friendships because of the fighting game community, and it’s something I wouldn’t trade the world for.”
Siam: “I think in a way it’s about giving back. I think those playing these games should tell the story of where they began. I think it’s a very down to the level type of story. A lot of these players, especially as their star rises, people start to focus on and idolize them. It’s good it down to ‘hey I’m a player too, I started somewhere like you did’ and it all goes back to starting at their local scene.”
“I’m hoping to tell more of the human side, outside of the building and what everyone plays. There are people there, people who help build the community together.”
The first episode of Locals Unknown can be found on the Kanme channel here, and the next is currently in production. If you like what these guys are doing, send them some love. It’s important to champion parts of the wider video game culture, especially portions that may have an end date.