CEO Gaming 2025: Highlights and Review

All Photography: Larry J. Photography

I've been a fan of fighting games since I was a small kid watching my uncle play Soul Calibur II on the PlayStation 2. The ability to go head-to-head with a sibling, a cousin, a classmate, or a coworker in a battle of wits, creativity, and, of course, elite knowledge in combo inputs has always been fun and exciting for me. When I got a bit older and started going to conventions, one of my favorite places to spend hours was in the game room filled with well-cared-for consoles of gaming enthusiasts who were kind enough to lend their precious childhood consoles to us attendees for a few days. Little did I know that there were whole communities dedicated to creating space exclusively for gaming and, more specifically, for fighting games called the FGC (Fighting Game Community). After discovering this fact, I became entrenched in FGC digital spaces, listening to podcasts such as the Triple K.O. Podcast, joining local groups like Retro Revival, and attending events. Luckily, Orlando and Central Florida are home to a few FGC events, such as Central Florida Face Off (CFFO Review Here), Juciy Game Nights events, and one of our favorite gaming events in the area, CEO Gaming.

Community Effort Orlando, or CEO Gaming, is an annual convention dedicated to fighting games from large AAA companies to small indie projects. While the event has moved around many times throughout the years, such as when it was held in Daytona Beach for a handful of years, CEO has made its triumphant return to its home in Orlando, Florida, at the Rosen Shingle Creek hotel. As if that wasn't wonderful enough for the event, this was made all the more special as 2025 marks 15 years of CEO Gaming, something that attendees, staff, and volunteers were all thrilled about. As a regular attendee of the event, the BN'K on Tour team was thrilled to get the opportunity to document this year's showcase. The following are some of our highlights and thoughts on CEO Gaming 2025.

CEO Makes FGC Feel Epic

One of the things you'll hear from anyone who's ever attended a CEO Gaming event is that, regardless of the size of the venue, everything at CEO feels epic. One of the biggest draws of CEO for many is that anyone can make CEO their spotlight moment. The CEO is an open tournament where anyone who wants to sign up and showcase their skills and talents can, as long as they meet the player requirements, which are: having a competitor badge, following each of the tournament-specific rules, and covering the tournament entry fee, which is only $10 for each specific official tournament. This accessibility makes it perfect for up-and-coming competitors to flex their skills against seasoned opponents on an even playing field.

Because there is so much competition in the air, you'd think that would make things tense, but actually, it makes things exciting, especially with several filmed main stages and esports commentators to hype up the crowd. In addition to the commentators and the live streaming, there were also large screens and seating in the main hall where all of the tournaments are held, competitors, and a live audience to battle in front of. However, the most epic thing the CEO does is put winning competitors and teams into a 1 V1-style wrestling ring to battle, complete with dynamic, boisterous, music-backed walkouts. The energy is high during the faceoffs with cheering, shouting, and plenty of whoops to go around; you feel like you're at a stadium sporting event. And what's a competition without a prize? Finalists received CEO official championship medals, while champions received CEO custom Championship belts. Watching the competitors receive their awards at the end of the event was emotional; joyous tears filled the stage, and everyone cheered them on.

When in JebaileyWorld, we do what the Jebaileys Do

Now, an attendee could spend their entire CEO Gaming experience in the main hall, and that would be totally fine, but then you'd miss out on all of the side activities and events happening in JabeilyWorld. Now JabeilyWorld is a long-running side room for the event that hosts additional events and activities for attendees, and this year the room was bigger than ever. This area hosted Karaoke on both Friday & Saturday nights, an Indie Showcase with developers from the Central Florida area, Project Storm (one of the longest-running multi-dance game tournaments in the U.S), a 24-hour free play arcade filled with open consoles and retro arcade cabinets, and an open Open Table Top Gaming area for card, board, and roleplaying games.

Though the weekend was busy, we managed to enjoy a bit of Karaoke, which was a real joy as Karaoke always seems to bring out the smiles in people. As for the TCG area, there were plenty of card game options, and even if you had no idea how to play, there were plenty of people willing to catch you up on the rules. I always look forward to the free play arcade at any event, but CEO has some of the most unique cabinets I've come across at an event. It had classic cabinets like OG Street Fighter and Guilty Gear, with a few newer cabinets as well. Over at the open gaming computers, there were plenty of console games to choose from. The area was bring your own controller, which I did not bring, but plenty of folks were kind enough to lend me their spare controllers so I could beat them. At least that's what it felt like before I got K.O.'d.The indie game showcase was a treat for those who love gaming. It was wonderful to see Astro Crow's Throwback: Jai-Alai Heroes, as well as Vice Magic City Mayhem by Jurassic Sunset Games. As a Floridian who loves all of the kitchyness of the state, both games felt wonderfully nostalgic and were fun to play, mostly. Unfortunately, I wasn't very good at them. Poor gaming skills aside, JabeilyWorld was a great spot to hang out at CEO.

There's More to CEO than Gaming

Now, as a seasoned convention goer, I'm no stranger to a market being at a convention, but I think in the case of CEO Gaming, you may not initially expect it to be there, but once you're surrounded by the various artists and vendors, it just makes sense. Vendors like Kawaii Satori and Spif Space, as well as a plethora of artists and creators to shop from, helped to fill out the main hall of the event and allowed attendees to nab a few gifts and souvenirs to take home with them from the event. CEO also hosted a cosplay contest for the folks who want to show their skills in a different arena. The contest took place on Saturday, with pre-judging a few hours before the showcase. The contest was judged by three talented cosplayers: Vitamin D Cosplay, MsValentine, and Kry Rayne, along with prizes provided by Cut/sew, Spendid Treasures, and Darwin Rose.

CEO puts the "C" in Community

Of all the things that CEO provides to its attendees, the community is the most important. Fighting games have a reputation for being a brutal competition space, and while the fighting on screen may be brutal, the community most certainly isn't. Between the kind staff, volunteers, and every single attendee, CEO is such a safe place for nerds and fans of fighting games. Sometimes, when you attend cons, especially as they grow in size, you can feel like the community and fandom aspects are hard to engage in, as folks are running around to their next event or scrambling to get to the vendor hall. CEO didn't feel like that at all. I often found myself stopping and casually chatting with other attendees, staff, and even guests. Even though I struggled to play some games, players were always kind enough to stop and teach me some skills to become better, and cheered me on when I won. The community at CEO is top-tier and second to none.

15 years is a long time to run an event, and each year CEO is in operation, this event gets better and better. I think that's in large part the dedication of Jabeily, who has been at the helm of CEO since inception. The aspects of Jabeily, such as his kindness and diligence in creating a safe fighting game community, seep into every aspect of CEO and are visible in the energy in each room you walk into during the con. From the activities to the community support and the support of local creatives, if you are a lover of fighting games or even just a casual spectator, attending CEO is a must. The BN'K absolutely adored our experience at CEO 2025, and we cannot wait to see what CEO 2026 has in store.