You’ve probably never lost a video game as hard as KojiKOG did this weekend at Evo 2025, the biggest fighting game tournament of the year.
The stakes: a $15,000 prize pool, awarded to the first-place competitor in SNK’s Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. The contestants: KojiKOG, a 38-year-old top player from Japan, and Go1, a 37-year-old champion. Both virtuosos advanced to the tournament’s semi-finals, which determined who would make it to the upper echelon of the competition.
From the get-go, KojiKOG struggled. KojiKOG mains Billy, a staff-wielding fighter who excels at range and can halt projectiles in their tracks. GO1 happens to main Kain, an extravagant, long-haired fighter whose specialty is lobbing fiery missiles. But despite the innate strengths of their individual characters, Go1 seemed in control for the first set of matches. The first loss almost seemed to light a fire for KojiKOG, who came back in the second round with a vengeance. The fighter disappeared over half of Go1’s health bar before his rival managed to get a single hit. All the same, Go1 turned things around and claimed victory that time, too.
Things seemed closer in the second set of matches. Both players got each other to the last sliver of health, where they remained for a nail-biting 15 seconds. “I think Koji might be a little shook,” one of the commentators remarked. Sure enough, KojiKOG lost that round, too.
It wasn’t looking good for KojiKOG at this point. One more loss and that was it: Game over. And right away, GO1 had KojiKOG literally backed into a corner during the last round. KojiKOG defended as best he could. A win seemed possible; everyone’s health bar was diminished near the end. But no. Go1, once again, pulled out a victory.
What happened next has gone viral on social media, where a clip of the loss has amassed 18 million views and counting. KojiKOG’s emotions overtook him, and he spent the next entire minute crashing out on camera.
He clutched his head. He pulled his hair. His jaw was agape in a silent scream that would not cease. KojiKOG’s meltdown just kept getting worse as the man’s headphones and glasses started falling off his writhing body. His face was so red, it looked like he might explode at any moment. With palms outstretched to the sky, you could almost hear KojiKOG’s internal monologue without him uttering a single word: Why?
The outburst was so intense that it stole the show. All Go1 could do was laugh as the camera zoomed in on his face.
“Oh my god, bro, I feel it for both of them, honestly,” one commentator said as the scene unfolded. “I get it, man. He put it all on the line with that last one,” the other commentator said.
Near the end, Go1 actually gets up and starts comforting his rival. What else can you do?
The two players actually go a long way back, and though the moment has baffled and amazed onlookers on social media, it’s a throwback for both competitors. Both experienced a similar scenario a decade ago when they faced each other at Evo 2015. KojiKOG received his loss with an extreme display of emotion much like the one in 2025, except at that time, KojiKog could be seen visibly celebrating his win. Evo was also a smaller event back then, and the crowd surrounding the duo was minuscule by comparison. Most of the people in the frame didn’t seem to be watching the dramatic loss.
Now, 10 years later, it’s captivated people well beyond the sphere of fighting game fans. Much of it has to do with the intensity of the reaction, and the uninhibited way KojiKog puts it all on display.
“Bro is the definition of despair, put him in Danganronpa,” one reply to the video reads on X. “He broke that man,” another chimed in.
Fortunately, it seems that the whole thing was kind of a bit. Most videos cut off before you can see the end, but eventually KojiKOG recovers and can be seen smiling. Still, when first place means winning $15,000, and you’re a few wins away from potentially cinching it (and possibly spent months training for it), you’ve got to imagine losing like this would hurt at least a little bit. At least KojiKOG still went home with $4,800 in his pockets, the prize for coming in 4th.
Go1 went on to claim first place in the competition, and $15,000 for his trouble. “I’m truly happy!!” Go1 wrote on social media in a post where he holds up a trophy. But judging from a post before that, I’m guessing there’s one moment in particular that will stick out in Go1’s mind from the entire event.
“It’s been 10 years,” Go1 wrote on a clip of his match with KojiKog with a teary-eyed emoji.
