Esports Charts Boycotts Tekken 8 BRICS Tournament Over Russia Ties

The analytics platform takes a stand amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.

Esports Charts, a leading esports analytics and viewership tracking platform, has officially announced it will boycott the Tekken 8 BRICS Tournament, citing political and ethical concerns tied to Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine.

In a post published to social media on June 2nd, the platform stated it would not include the event—organized by the Russian Esports Federation (RESF)—in its tournament database or record any viewership statistics. The BRICS Tournament concluded just one day earlier, on June 1st in Moscow, Russia.

“Our decision of not covering this event signifies that it will not appear in our tournament database or blog: we will not track its viewership and its results will not affect the totals of discipline prize pools, or club profiles on our platform,” said Esports Charts.

Why the Boycott?

The move, according to Esports Charts, is a direct response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the RESF’s alleged involvement in occupied territories, and the ongoing military aggression.

Esports Charts is owned by AWERTI, a Ukraine-based analytics company that recently rebranded in May 2025. Since the beginning of the conflict in February 2022, multiple esports organizations and game developers have taken measures against Russia—including suspensions, restrictions, and event exclusions.

Implications for Future Events

This isn’t just a one-off decision. Esports Charts’ stance strongly suggests that future RESF-hosted tournaments are also likely to be excluded from its platform. While Russian players and organizations have slowly returned to the international scene under strict conditions, the BRICS event has crossed a line, at least in the eyes of Esports Charts.

However, the platform made it clear that it continues to provide comprehensive analytics for global events across various genres—including MOBAs, FPS titles, battle royales, and of course, fighting games like Tekken—so long as they are not associated with flagged organizers or geopolitical violations.

About BRICS Tournament

The BRICS Esports Championship 2025 was an offline Tekken 8 tournament held in Moscow, Russia, from May 31 to June 1, 2025, at the VK Play Arena. It featured 44 players competing for a prize pool of 3,500,000₽ RUB (approximately $45,000 USD).

The event was a Tier 3 tournament, with China’s XCC, belonging to Weibo Gaming esports, winning the championship, securing a prize of $19,434.

The tournament was part of a series, with previous editions in 2023 and 2024, where Chinese esportsman Zhulin XCC Chen won both times.

A cosplay fashion show also took place during the finals.