Lahore, Pakistan (CNN) – On a damp monsoon evening in Pakistan's lively city of Lahore, the generators and lights flicker in Maniax, a dirty but legendary game hall, which applies the unlikely dominance of the country of a lucrative corner of the eSports world.
Three of the 10 best players in the world of classic Japanese fighting game Tekken come from Pakistan. They crack (virtual) skulls on the international racetrack, fill the roster of the lucrative, Saudi -supported teams and take home tens of thousands of prize money from dollars.
This is a powerful statistics for a country that is better known for its recurring political turbulence and where a Playstation or a PC costs more than the monthly average income. The electricity required for the electricity is not always guaranteed.
The first Tekken came out in 1994 and the franchise is now in the eighth episode. Every time a new version is started, millions of copies sell. The players choose from a stable of the fighters, including Kung Fu experts, a space ninja and a huge panda to hit, chop, chop and throw themselves.
It is not the most popular game on the billion dollar business market, but it is lucrative. In August, the South Korean player “Ulsan” won prize money of 250,000 US dollars after winning the Esports World Cup in Tekken 8.
Tekken's champion in Pakistan is Arsalan “Ash” Siddique, a quiet insured 30-year-old from Lahore. He was wearing a squad shirt with his gaming name, which gave his back when he scored CNN, at the shared room in a leafy suburb of Lahore in which he trains. The room was tight, but filled with its trophies and a golden console between Anime figures glittered on a shelf. In a lively market nearby, he was on a billboard display for a telecommunications company.
Ash, who practices eight hours a day, is a former ESPNSport player of the year and the first Red Bull athlete from Pakistan. He won five consecutive Evolution Championship series, tournaments took place worldwide that concentrate exclusively on fighting games. On a tight August weekend in Las Vegas, he won his sixth Evo victory and won $ 12,000 in prize money.
This final in Las Vegas was an all-Pakistan matter in which Ash defeated his friend Atif Butt, with which he had spent weeks in the LaHore studio and practiced combos of beatings, kicks and chops.
But like many other players in Pakistan, their skills were forged in public arcades like Maniax. Private playing Tekken means to treat almost 700 US dollars for a Playstation -for most in Pakistan out of reach, where the average monthly salary is 300 US dollars.
Later that night in Maniax, dull play chairs were scattered, and rainwater seeped out of the huge window. “Dil Se”, a popular Bollywood melody, played over the loudspeakers when the Intent Gamer hit their consoles into the flashes of a thunderstorm. A young man, a precious goods that is not available in the country in a corner and tailor -made Arcade Joysticks, which is not available in the country and which is available at around 300 US dollars in retail.
The 35-year-old Bawaqar Haider, who has the game name Soul Dagger, is one of the co-founders of Maniax and since his child a fan of Tekken. In his arcade he says: “You basically have no discrimination … The entire arcade is largely about skills.”
The Arcade culture was the driver of the popularity of Tekken in Pakistan, says Butt -who is now representing Falcons Saudi -Sport team.
The game is relatively easily available and cheap for arcades, which were installed in the 1990s and early 2000s, which means that it was “easier” for young players, he said.
Haider believes that Pakistan's hardscrabble environment has created a “ruthlessness” among his young players. Most of the country's population group under 30-round 170 million human-sind in the shade of political instability and violence and an economy grew up that constantly tumble from the crisis to crisis.
Her wish to be successful in the arcades and at international tournaments is based on a “hunger and deprivation that drives them to surpass the world around them,” said Haider.
New horizons
Since Ash was missing a console at home, he played Tekken in the Gaming Arkades of Lahore, his hometown when he was seven.
He spent hours there for days, year after year until 2012, when he realized that he needed a new challenge.
“I was somehow sad,” said Ash to CNN, “because there was no competition in Pakistan.”
Ash wanted to expand his horizon, but Ash turned to his friends with limited financial means to get help. They bundled money to help him pay for flight tickets, but foreign trips were associated with other obstacles.
Pakistan has one of the weakest passes in the world and Ash did not have the finances or the history of travel to get visas for countries like Japan or the USA, eSports hotspots that have strict visa requirements for Pakistani citizens.
It is a problem that continues to be frustrated.
After a spectacular victory against the South Korean national team in Seoul in March, he spoke about the difficulties with which he and his Pakistan players are faced with, in terms of visas and a career while playing Tekken.
“We cannot travel anywhere; sponsors are not sponsored because the players don't have a visa,” he said.
It is a “big problem” not to have a visa, Ash told CNN.
“No matter how talented we are if you cannot go outside and if you cannot show our talent, it is not worth it.”
He also called for the government's support to create an ecosystem for eSports in Pakistan, since he believes that “no infrastructure … is not only available for tekken, for eSports”.
Ash's concerns have not become unknown. Rana Mashood, Chairman of the Prime Minister's youth program, told CNN that the efforts to formulate Pakistan's first sports policy, which will include the establishment of games “Arenas and Coworking Spaces”, are exhausting.
'Grind around the clock'
While the tightly knitted Tekken community in Pakistan contributed to promoting a strong basis for young players, it is mainly dominated by young men.
The 21-year-old Laiba Adnan is a female player who has only led waves in women in Tekken circles. As a big fan of ashes, she doesn't feel comfortable to go to Arcades.
Adnan said that she has great hopes that arcades due to the way that ash paved ashes will be “centered”.
“I think Tekken has really changed the way many people see Pakistan in the world. They now see us as extremely hard. These are those who grind around the clock. They know that they are a great inspiration for me.”
When Ash and his team defeated South Korea in March, he gave a viral speech in the auditorium in Seoul before the cheers of “Long Live Pakistan”.
He called for “a new generation of Pakistani teenagers to realize their dreams and present their talents on the global stage”.
Ash smiles and sits under his trophies in his studio in Lahore. He is confident what lies for him and the players he inspired.
“The future,” he says, “is bright.”
The-Cnn-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
The-Cnn-Wire (TM) & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., A Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.