Kakeru, one of many world’s strongest Road Fighter 6 gamers and a Capcom Cup champion, has been compelled to retire on the top of his profession because of neurological points.
Kakeru Watanabe is a 28-year-old skilled Road Fighter participant whose profession began taking off after the pandemic in Road Fighter V’s last years.
His outcomes actually began to indicate on the discharge of Road Fighter 6 in 2023, changing into one of many first Japanese gamers to make waves within the sport’s aggressive scene. That yr, he even made High 8 at Evo, ending 4th out of ~7,000 different opponents.
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Nevertheless, a few of his best achievements would happen in 2024, when he acquired second place at Evo Japan, 2nd at Topanga Cup, and later received a very powerful Road Fighter match of the yr — Capcom Cup.
Kakeru has additionally been on a roll this yr, ending within the High 8 at Purple Bull Kumite and second at Evo 2025 towards two-time Capcom Cup champion MenaRD… however issues began to come up on the Esports World Cup in August.
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Out of the blue, he pulled out of the competitors, citing extreme meals poisoning that required emergency medical remedy. Issues had been quiet for Kakeru within the months that adopted, however in October, the participant dropped information that left your entire neighborhood shaken.
Kakeru retires after neurological dysfunction analysis
Kakeru was scheduled to compete in Road Fighter League, a team-based competitors that began in August, however was notably absent as a result of aforementioned well being issues that cropped up in the course of the Esports World Cup.
On October 22, each Kakeru and his staff, ZETA Division, introduced that he had formally retired from aggressive combating video games for the foreseeable future, revealing that he’s scuffling with neurological dysfunction.
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“I’ve determined to retire from my actions as an esports participant,” Kakeru wrote in a put up on X.
“Roughly two months have handed because the sudden suspension of actions.Throughout this time, I sincerely apologize from the underside of my coronary heart for inflicting you all nice fear and inconvenience with out having the ability to report the detailed scenario.
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“The ‘neural dysfunction,’ which was the explanation for the suspension of actions, continued, making it tough to proceed competing as a participant.”
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Neurological dysfunction is outlined as a situation the place the mind has points sending and receiving info from the physique. It could actually trigger a big selection of signs relying on its severity, together with weak point, coordination issues, muscle spasms, complications, and even seizures.
Kakeru has not given any additional details about the scenario on the time of writing. The combating sport neighborhood has rallied behind him within the wake of this distressing information, celebrating his achievements and the simple mark he’s made on the scene in Road Fighter 6’s comparatively quick lifetime to this point.
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As laid out by Liquipedia FGC administrator ‘incross,’ Kakeru is at present the highest-earning Road Fighter 6 participant with an 80% winrate in match units — that means he hardly ever takes a loss in skilled competitors.
The truth is, out of the vast majority of main occasions he’s entered, he’s gotten to the High 8 and past, making him one of many sport’s strongest gamers. Followers and fellow opponents are hopeful he’ll recuperate quickly and return to the stage even stronger than earlier than.
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