If there’s any doubt left about how fiercely devoted Bloody Roar’s fanbase remains, you only need to look at the energy pulsing through Schaumburg, Illinois this weekend. All In Together—the community-driven side series running alongside Combobreaker 2025 - has quietly become the beating heart for niche fighting titles, and its crowdfunded prize pools now outshine even some headline games.
Take Killer Instinct: this year’s official KI event offers $1,069, while Bloody Roar Extreme, organized by three‑time champion and streaming stalwart JeriTheOg, boasts a whopping $4,000 purse raised entirely by fans.
We also dropped some questions to the organiser and triple-champ himself, getting inside the mindset of one of the game's if not the most passionate ambassador.
JeriTheOg admits that he originally aimed for a $5k goal, but after the public drive slowed he decided to keep things moving behind the scenes.
“I initially wanted to get 5k,” he explains, “but there was a point where the raising got stagnated, so I decided to raise it behind the scenes, solely off of my streams.”
That kind of perseverance is exactly why the scene keeps growing.
"I set myself as an example of when you are committed to something you are lovingly passionate about, you express it by showing, not telling."
In past years, community events like All In Together have been a proving ground for emerging talent - names that rarely show up in the more mainstream brackets. Watching players like NaN, Dom, or Dizzy_Pink, duke it out in a game that originally dropped in 2002 is a reminder that passion often outlasts the hype cycle.
With that level of grassroots support, it’s hard not to wonder whether Combobreaker might elevate Bloody Roar Extreme to its mainstage next year. We floated the idea that perhaps purely focusing as a competitor might sound advantageous:
"Definitely. I think one of the things that made 2022 unique compared to the years after was the fact that I didn't have to organize, raise money, figure out split percentages, and create promotional material while simultaneously defend my title. It can be stressful, even if it isn't too much to me, only because of my discipline and confidence that I've developed over the years. However, it does bring up a duality struggle to where I have to try enjoying myself at the event while also prepare for the inevitable obstacles I'll have to overcome."
One of the biggest questions on everyone’s mind is whether Konami has been watching. When we asked him directly if he hopes this upsurge in community effort might spur an official revival, there was no hesitation.
“No question about it. If they’re truly aware of the demand of the series to be brought back, what I am doing should show them the potential of this IP that could be as big as its contemporaries were at the time.”
Whether a full-fledged sequel emerges, Bloody Roar’s fans are already winning. The energy in the venue, the buzz on social media, and the volume of controller clicks all testify to a tournament scene that refuses to stay silent.
"Just play the game. Keep it in people's consciousness. Bloody Roar deserves love just like any other fighter, dormant or active."
There’s still time to throw your hat in the ring, and when you step up to that character select screen, you’ll know you’re part of something that’s come roaring back to life - one fan, one stream, and one community-fueled dollar at a time.
With the amount of energy and time, and of course money spent, we had to ask the question - is this the last one?
"Very possible. If people want Bloody Roar at Combo Breaker 2026, there has to be more incentive to play the game because people should make back more than what they spent to travel when they compete, and Bloody Roar is often treated as a novelty rather than seen for the depth it actually has. Given that it isn't backed by the IP holder, it's not lucrative. In general it takes a lot of commitment, time, and work to make this happen. So there would have to be $10,000 put down for it have a presence at the event for a 5th year, $5k for the pot bonus and $5k for myself since it is essentially a psuedo-career of mine being as though I've been playing for 9 years and competing for 4. People, including myself, need to sustain however I also want people to have fun while having the security of knowing that they can earn. In short, given Bloody Roar's current inactive status, people won't care unless money is involved because it's the only way people's attention will be undivided from it. It's really just a risky two-birds one stone predicament, but everyone who plays fighting games take risks all the time, I'm just in a unique predicament."
Top4 action of the game will feature on legendary fighting game player Justin Wong's channel; https://www.twitch.tv/jwonggg (4PM-5PM CST / 5PM-6PM EST) - and will surely be the biggest event the game has seen in over a decade.
