Timezone New Zealand is kicking off a month-long Pump It Up Phoenix tournament next week, with winners getting flights to Korea to participate in an international final.
New Zealand is one of the countries involved in the Pump It Up Asia-Pacific Tournament 2026, a collaboration between Timezone and Pump It Up developer Andamiro (the others being Australia, Singapore, Phillipines, Vietnam, and Indonesia). Two winners from each country (one each for male and female divisions) will win flights to Korea to take part in the international competition, as well as two nights’ accommodation and meals. The top 3 winners will also get a special Pump It Up arcade card.
The competition runs for a little over a month, from January 26 to February 28. During this window, registered players will earn “Pumbility” points for each song they pass—for those familiar with the system, it works the same as the standard Pumbility system, only based on your top 20 songs rather than top 50. For those unfamiliar with it: you earn rating points for each song you pass, based on the difficulty level and your score, and the highest 20 songs adding up to your total score for the tournament.
Only unique step charts are counted, so you can’t just play the same level 20 times, but you can increase your rating points for a particular chart by increasing your best score on it. Separate difficulty levels for the same song are all counted as unique charts, and will each earn full points. This means that you can keep pushing your Pumbility rating higher over the full duration of the tournament window, both by passing higher-level songs and by improving your high scores.
To take part, you’ll need to be 18 years or older and have a valid Pump It Up Phoenix game ID and arcade card (AM.Pass). You can register on the Pump It Up Phoenix official website, and once registered, you can participate by playing at any participating Timezone arcade. (Apparently scores recorded during the tournament window but prior to registration will also be counted, but it’s probably best to register before playing, just to be on the safe side.)
