Looks like international travel is no joking matter.

Over the years, the Chicago area’s Combo Breaker fighting game tournament has grown into one of the largest of its kind and attracts competitors from all over the world. In fact, this year’s event on 23 to 25 May was to include Japanese Street Fighter 6 ace Kobayan, as a member of the Answer.M.Gaming team.

On 21 May, an excited Kobayan tweeted that he was all set to fly out to Chicago and take part in the competition.

▼ “I’m on my way to Chicago to compete in Combo Breaker!
I’ve finished checking in and all that, and I’m boarding the plane right now.
This is my first time traveling overseas alone and I have a stopover, so I’m a little nervous but I’m going to have fun!”

After that, Kobayan posted again. The tweet was deleted for reasons we’ll explain shortly but he basically told an anecdote about going through US customs and immigration. The customs officer asked what his purpose in Chicago was. He was still nervous and unprepared for the question so he told her he was going to see a Cubs game. The officer replied by asking if he was a player, which made him happy to be mistaken for one, even if it was meant as a joke.

It was a cute little story that probably made him feel welcome in the USA for his first time alone. However, soon after that tweet was posted, Answer.M.Gaming made the following announcement.

▼ “Given the possibility that the official purpose of Kobayan’s visit to the US was not communicated to the authorities, and considering the risk this poses to his future activities as a player, we have decided to remove him from participation in Combo Breaker.
We have also informed SS Kumamoto, whom we have him on loan from, and they have consented to the decision.
We are also working on arrangements for him to return to Japan as soon as possible.
We apologize to everyone who was looking forward to seeing him compete.”

Up to about a year ago, such a tweet would have come across as overly cautious to the point of paranoia, but in 2025 it’s a reasonable move in the best interests of Kobayan. In not properly declaring his purpose of participating in Combo Breaker, he could have been seen as in violation of his visa for doing so and be thrown in jail. This year has seen several arrests, incarcerations, and deportations of people visiting the US from all corners of the globe, including even Canada, for seemingly innocuous or debatable violations of their visa terms, so there was no reason to suggest the same couldn’t have happened to Kobayan.

It’s not clear what exactly about that exchange triggered the removal of Kobayan, but there were a few ways it could have gone wrong for him. Saying he was going to a ballgame rather than participating in a competition for money would certainly throw the status of his visa into question. There’s also the chance that the officer wasn’t joking when they asked if Kobayan was a player. He never mentioned how he responded to the question but he might have also jokingly quipped, “Yeah,” which would cause a whole heap of trouble too.

And even though I doubt anyone would really blame Kobayan for what happened, he issued an apology on Twitter.

▼ “I am sorry for the inconvenience my immature behavior caused.
I apologize to everyone who has supported me.”

Some readers of the news were surprised immigration could be so strict, while others who have had run-ins of their own, were not so shocked by it.

“If he actually went to a Cubs game, would it have been OK?”
“I was detained in Australia for saying something stupid at immigration.”
“No one’s going to believe an esports player is going to a baseball game.”
“It’s a shame. I think he would have gone all the way in the tournament.”
“I don’t know if you’ve seen Kobayan but he’s huge and definitely looks like he could play baseball.”
“Maybe the officer wasn’t joking when they asked if he was a player.”
“Immigration is a form of national defense, so they don’t joke around.”
“When I took part in EVO in 2019 they asked me why I was entering and I said ‘Under Night In-Birth.’ They didn’t understand me at all, so I just said ‘It’s Street Fighter…’ That was probably dangerous.”

Hopefully, this will all blow over and Kobayan will get another shot at Combo Breaker next year. And we can only hope the world will become a better enough place that we don’t have to worry about stuff like this by then too. After all, Street Fighter is all about bringing the world together and delivering jumping uppercuts to each other regardless of borders.

Source: X/@kobayan_new, X/@Q_ANSWER, Hachima Kiko, PBS
Featured image: Pakutaso
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