Esports Event "Kugutsu Cup Powered by NURO Hikari," a Student Collaboration by "REJECT" and "NURO Hikari," Set for March 21!

The esports event "Kugutsu Cup Powered by NURO Hikari," planned and proposed by students through the industry-academia collaboration education system "Company Project," supported by REJECT Inc. and the high-speed optical fiber service "NURO Hikari," is set to be held on Friday, March 21, 2025.
Popular streamers and VTubers will form teams and compete in Street Fighter 6.

"Kugutsu Cup Powered by NURO Hikari" Is Set to Be Held!

PR TIMES

REJECT Inc., operators of the professional esports team "REJECT," and Sony Network Communications Inc., providers of the high-speed optical fiber service "NURO Hikari," supported the "Company Project" conducted by Fukuoka Design & Technology College and Kobe Koyo Design & Technology College.
Through this "Company Project," the "Kugutsu Cup Powered by NURO Hikari," which was planned and proposed by students, is set to be held on Friday, March 21, 2025.

In the "Kugutsu Cup," popular streamers and VTubers will form teams and compete in best-of-one matches using the fighting game "Street Fighter 6."
As a special rule, streamers will play blindfolded and follow the instructions of the VTuber, truly fighting as puppets, reflecting the tournament name.
Additionally, the following six individuals will participate in the puppet and instructor roles.

• Puppet Role:
  Kokujin (@kokujind)
  Sasatikk (@sasatikk)
  Momoi Luna (@xxBetty_)
• Instructor Role:
  Senba Kuro (@senba_crow)
  Inui Shinichiro (@Ninja_Inui)
  dtto. (@_dtto)

Details about the "Kugutsu Cup Powered by NURO Hikari" can be found on the REJECT official website.

Comment from the Final Selection Winning Team of Kobe Koyo Design & Technology College

In the industry-academia collaboration project with "NURO Hikari" and "REJECT," I was very excited starting from the orientation phase at the prospect of planning a large-scale event beyond the scope of regular classes.
However, once it started, the planning process involved days spent considering things like "What game title should we use?", "What is interesting for viewers?", and "How can we create something that people will enjoy?". Navigating a situation where there was no clear 'correct answer', receiving advice from company members, drawing inspiration from fellow students' ideas, and deeply considering each element was a highly valuable experience. Also, giving presentations helped me articulate my thoughts and realize new ways of thinking and perspectives that I hadn't had before.
Currently, we are dedicated to the success of the event alongside everyone leading the esports industry. We are truly grateful for this opportunity. Our team will do our best to make the "Kugutsu Cup" a success, and we hope our efforts resonate with many. Please look forward to it.

Comment from Misasa Nakamura, Sales Department, REJECT Inc.

Being exposed to the students' creativity and enthusiasm, I myself was greatly inspired.
Through the project, I felt the difficulty of integrating industry realities with the students' innovative ideas, but more importantly, I believe we uncovered new possibilities.
In the final selection, we carefully reviewed each team's proposal, and our selection emphasized the balance between innovation and feasibility. The selected plan is full of novel ideas unique to students.
The experience in this project will not only contribute to the future growth of the participating students, but it also provided us, as operators of an esports team, with a valuable opportunity to gain a new perspective. I hope that the ideas born through this industry-academia collaboration will be a catalyst to inject new energy into the esports industry.

Comment from Chikusa Masuda, Marketing Department, NURO Business Division, Sony Network Communications Inc.

Participating in the project as an instructor, I myself was inspired by the students' sincere attitude and fresh sensibility, and I learned a lot. Starting from the orientation, for about two months, through interim reports and Q&A sessions, I witnessed the refinement of each team's ideas. I am truly grateful for the students' extensive preparation and for the teachers' unwavering support.
In the final selection, every team had a compelling narrative, and the ingenuity in each presentation was palpable. All the plans were excellent, exceeding expectations and were exciting just to hear, and I was impressed by their enthusiasm and creativity. While it was difficult to narrow it down to one plan, the novel plan "Kugutsu Cup," which would likely excite the game community the most, was selected. "Kugutsu Cup" initially had other title ideas, but as it was refined, it became a plan whose title itself was chosen with the game community in mind, and the growth demonstrated during that process was also very impressive.
Finally, the "Kugutsu Cup Powered by NURO Hikari" will be held. Significant effort went into preparing for the event. I will continue working with everyone until the end so that this event serves as a platform for mutual learning and energizes the game community. And "NURO Hikari" will continue to support not only everyone who enjoys esports and games, but also the creators who fuel their passion.