Arslan Ash became the Evo 2025 Tekken 8 champion and the second Tekken 8 champion ever, and also won his sixth overall EVO title, making it his fifth win in a row, with Tekken 7 and Tekken 8. An Evo 2025 Tekken 8 tournament was held in Las Vegas, on 1-2-3 August, and in the grand final, Arslan Ash competed against another Pakistani participant Atif Butt.
Beginning with Anna vs. Atif Anna, Arslan Ash changed his character to Nina later in the match, and managed to win with a comeback victory. This victory also proves Arslan Ash as the leading force of the Tekken competitive field and adds weight to his image when participating at the EVO Tekken series.
Tekken 8 EVO Top 8
The Tekken 8 EVO top 8 at Evo 2025 featured top players including Arslan Ash, Atif Butt, Chikurin, Mulgold, LowHigh, NOBI, Meo-IL, and JDCR. The tournament saw a decline in player entries, with 2,521 participants in Tekken 8 compared to over 4,600 in 2024.
Ahead of Evo 2025, Patch 2.03.01 introduced Fahkumram as a new DLC character and the Pac-Pixels stage, while Patch 2.03.02 focused on technical fixes. The gameplay trailer for Armor King was revealed during the event, with a release date scheduled for October 2025.
Arslan Ash addressed the problem of balance in Tekken 8 and called to update characters more quickly in order to fix overpowered game characters. Evo 2025 was also an Esports World Cup qualification opportunity, thus, was also an event in the Tekken calendar as a Master+ level tournament of the Tekken World Tour.
Arslan Ash’s consistent performance at the Evo 2025 Tekken 8 tournament confirms his position as one of the leading figures in international Tekken esports.