Butt-controlled fighting game is getting its own esports tournament

A fighting game where you play by shaking your butt has officially gone competitive, allowing players to shake their behinds at an official esports tournament.

Ketsu Battler, the Switch party fighter that straps a Joy-Con to your backside and turns hip movement into sword swings, is getting its first official esports tournament. The event will take place in Japan at the Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising Cygames Cup 2026 on January 18, 2026, marking what organisers are proudly calling the world’s first butt-controlled esports competition.

According to the official press release, the event will crown the very first Ketsu Battler champion in an open tournament capped at 128 players. Players who place first through third will receive an autographed illustration card by Takade Naotaka, the creator of the Ketsu Battler manga, alongside other special prizes made specifically for the commemorative event.

Butt-controlled game gets official esports tournament

The announcement adds that Ketsu Battler will “finally take to the stage of e-sports tournaments,” which may be the strongest sentence ever committed to a video game press release.

As reported by Automaton, the tournament will run as a single-elimination bracket, with best-of-three matches leading into best-of-five finals. There are no button presses involved at any point, and every attack, block, and finishing blow is powered entirely by how hard players move their hips.

The game’s competitive leap comes just over a year after Ketsu Battler launched on Nintendo Switch on December 12, 2024, where it initially released as a gag fighter before its unique motion controls quickly made it viral.

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Ketsu Battler later made headlines back in June, when players discovered that the Switch 2’s increased performance had accidentally buffed attacks, making butt-powered moves faster and more ferocious than ever before.

So, if you thought League of Legends’ Worlds tournament and the CS Major Championships weren’t thrilling enough, then be prepared to be blown away when the deadliest derrieres battle it out for a chance to be crowned the ultimate winner of the first-ever butt-based esports tournament.