The Evolution Championship Series, commonly known as Evo, is an American annual

esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

event that focuses exclusively on

fighting game The fighting game video game genre, genre involves combat between multiple characters, often (but not limited to) one-on-one battles. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappling, counter- ...

s. The

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

s are completely

open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979 * ''Open'' (Go ...

and use the

double elimination A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost ''two'' games or matches. It stands in contrast to a single-elimin ...

format. As with Super Battle Opera, contestants travel from all over the world to participate, most notably from Japan. The first Evolution was originally held as a ''

Super Street Fighter II Turbo ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo'', released in Japan as is a 1994 fighting game developed and published by Capcom for arcades. It is the fifth installment in the '' Street Fighter II'' sub-series of ''Street Fighter'' games, following '' ...

'' and ''

Street Fighter Alpha 2 ''Street Fighter Alpha 2'', known as in Japan, Asia, South America, and Oceania, is a 1996 fighting game developed and published by Capcom for arcades. The game is the sequel to the previous year's '' Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams'' an ...

'' tournament called the

Battle by the Bay B3: Battle by the Bay, the B4 Championships, and the B5 Championships were the first three instances of the open (sport), open fighting game event that is now known as the annual Evolution Championship Series. B3 was created by Tom and Tony Cannon ...

. It changed its name to Evo in 2002. Every successive tournament has seen an increase of attendees. It has been held at various venues across the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan St ...

since 2005. As of 2021, the event is jointly owned by

Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

and the Endeavor esports venture RTS.

History

Evo was founded by Tom Cannon, also known for his work on Shoryuken.com, a fighting game website. The tournament started as "Battle by the Bay", a 40-man ''

'' and ''

'' tournament in 1996 in

Sunnyvale Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the north, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The event eventually moved to its recurring venue in the

, Nevada. The event changed its name to Evolution Championship Series, or EVO for short, in 2002. Over time, the tournament grew, recording over one thousand participants in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. Originally the tournament used

arcade cabinet An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...

s, but in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

the decision was made to move all games over to their

console Console may refer to: Computing and video games * System console, a physical device to operate a computer ** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device ** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...

versions, to a large amount of controversy. During the transition to games on the seventh generation consoles, most games were played on a

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

, though Evo 2014 ran most games on the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

. Aside from the official tournaments, there is also a "BYOC" ("bring your own console") area in which many different games are played and side tournaments are held.

1996–2003: Tournament beginnings and re-branding

B3: Battle by the Bay was organized by Tom "inkblot" Cannon, Tony "Ponder" Cannon, Joey "MrWizard" Cuellar, and Seth "S-Kill" Killian, and held in the

Golfland Golfland Entertainment Centers are a chain of family amusement centers, miniature golf courses, and water parks located in California and Arizona. The company was founded in 1953. Locations *"Milpitas Golfland" in Milpitas, California (1199 Ja ...

arcade hall in

Sunnyvale, California Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real (California), El Camino Real and U.S. Route 101 in California, Highway 1 ...

. The tournament had 40 contenders mostly from the United States, though B3 also featured players from Canada and Kuwait. B3 featured a ''

'' and ''

'' tournament. The B4 ''Street Fighter'' Championships were held on July 15–16, 2000, in

Folsom, California Folsom is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. The population was 80,454 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 72,203 residents at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census. History The Nisenan tribe of Ind ...

. B4 introduced several new Capcom fighting games to the roster: ''

Street Fighter Alpha 3 ''Street Fighter Alpha 3'', released as in Japan, Asia, South America, and Oceania, is a 1998 fighting game developed and published by Capcom for arcades. It is the third and final installment in the '' Street Fighter Alpha'' sub-series, which ...

'', '' Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike'', and '' Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes''. The newly released ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2'' was the first non-''Street Fighter'' game to be included, and a precedent for the tournament to branch out to other games. The ''Capcom Versus'' series has since had a large presence in the Battle of the Bay and Evolution Championship Series events. Held in August 2001 in

, the B5 Championships was attended by a much larger international crowd, particularly from Japan. '' Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000'' made its introduction in the tournament roster at B5, and ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2'' was again a headliner of the event, being described by

TechTV TechTV was an American cable television channel with a focus on technology. It was launched as ZDTV on May 11, 1998, by computer magazine publisher Ziff Davis, Ziff-Davis following two short-lived technology-based programs by the company. Init ...

as "the hottest arcade fighting game of the season." In 2002, the event became formally known as its current name, "Evo". Evo 2002 took place on August 9, 2002, at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

2004–08: Change to consoles, Moment 37 and EVO Circuit

Evo 2004 took place at

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is a Public university, public Institute of Technology (United States)#Polytechnic universities, polytechnic research university in Pomona, California, United States. It is the l ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

from July 29 to August 1. The tournament amassed approximately 700 competitors from over 30 countries to compete in over nine different games. The games featured included ''

'', '' Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike'', '' Marvel vs. Capcom 2'', ''

Capcom vs. SNK 2 ''Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001'' is a 2001 fighting game developed and published by Capcom. The sequel to ''Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000'' (2000) and an entry in the ''SNK vs. Capcom'' crossover series, it was originally ...

'', '' Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution'', ''

Guilty Gear XX ''Guilty Gear X2'', also known as and subtitled ''The Midnight Carnival'' in Japan, is a fighting game developed by Arc System Works and published by Sammy Studios. The third main installment of the ''Guilty Gear'' series, ''Guilty Gear X2'' fu ...

'', ''

Soulcalibur II is a 2002 fighting game developed and published by Namco. It is the third installment in the ''Soulcalibur'' series of weapon-based fighting games as the sequel to ''Soulcalibur'' (1998). Originally intended to be released on Sega's NAOMI arcad ...

'', ''

Tekken 4 is a 2001 fighting game developed and published by Namco for arcades. Initially released for Namco's System 246 hardware, it was then ported to the PlayStation 2 home console in 2002. As the fourth main installment in the '' Tekken'' series fol ...

'', and ''

Tekken Tag Tournament is a 1999 fighting game developed and published by Namco for arcades. It is a spin-off the '' Tekken'' series. Not canon to the main storyline, ''Tekken Tag Tournament'' features nearly all the characters in the previous ''Tekken'' games and int ...

''. Evo 2004 used home consoles for most of their tournament games instead of arcade cabinets, with the only exception being ''3rd Strike'' which used the more traditional arcade cabinets. Evo 2004 was the birthplace of " Evo Moment #37". During the ''Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike'' tournament,

Daigo Umehara is a Japanese esports player and author who competes competitively at Fighting game, fighting video games. He specializes in 2D arcade game, arcade fighting games, mainly those released by Capcom. Known as "Daigo" or "The Beast" in the West and ...

(playing as

Ken Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer * ''Ken'' (film), a 1965 Japanese film * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine * Ken Masters, a main character in th ...

), while facing

Justin Wong Justin Wong (born November 15, 1985), occasionally shortened to Jwong, is an American professional fighting game player residing in Canada. Wong has won more EVO titles than anyone else with nine tournaments won: seven for '' Marvel vs. Capcom ...

(using

Chun-Li Chun-Li (; Japanese: , Hepburn: ) is a character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' video game series. She first appeared in '' Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'' in 1991 and is the first female playable character to appear in a fighting game t ...

), successfully parried one of Chun-Li's "Super Moves" while having very little health left and then countered with his own, winning the match. This highlight became highly influential within the fighting game community. 2005 was the first year Evo was held at the

Green Valley Ranch Green Valley Ranch is a hotel and casino located within Green Valley, Henderson, the eponymous community in Henderson, Nevada, Henderson, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Station Casinos, and includes a casino. The resort was initially propos ...

casino and hotel in Las Vegas. Evo 2006 took place at the

Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino Red Rock Resort is a hotel and casino in Summerlin South, Nevada, located in the Las Vegas Valley. It is owned and operated by Station Casinos on located in the Downtown Summerlin neighborhood. It is Station Casinos' flagship property, and the ...

in Las Vegas. 2006 was the first year that

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

gave its official, public support of the Evolution tournaments. Traditionally, Evo has only included fighting games, but in 2006 it included ''

Mario Kart DS ''Mario Kart DS'' is a 2005 kart racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It was released in November 2005 in North America, Europe, and Australia, and on December 8, 2005, in Japan. The game was ...

'' in its lineup. The fighting games featured were ''

Dead or Alive 4 is a 2005 fighting game developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo for the Xbox 360. It is the fourth main entry in the ''Dead or Alive'' fighting series following ''Dead or Alive 3'' (2001), and the last before Tecmo's merger with Koei i ...

'', '' Guilty Gear XX Slash'', and '' Hyper Street Fighter II''. Evo 2007, officially called Evo World 2007, took place from August 24 to 26 at the Green Valley Ranch, in Las Vegas. Throughout the year there were several other tournaments held throughout the US bearing the Evo name. The game roster had eight games, ''Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike'', ''Capcom vs. SNK 2'', ''Virtua Fighter 5'', ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2'', ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo'', ''Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection'', ''

Guilty Gear XX Λ Core ''Guilty Gear X2'' (released as ''Guilty Gear XX: The Midnight Carnival'' in Japan) is a 2D fighting video game developed by Arc System Works, and published by Sammy Studios. It was first released on May 23, 2002 for Japanese arcades, and later ...

'', and ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''. Evo 2008 took place at the

Tropicana Las Vegas The Tropicana Las Vegas was a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It operated from 1957 to 2024. In its final years, the property included a casino and 1,467 rooms. The complex occupied at the southeast corner of the Tro ...

on the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...

. from August 8 to 10. The tournament would feature six games within its official roster: ''

'', '' Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection'', '' Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike'', ''

Super Smash Bros. Brawl ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is a 2008 crossover fighting game developed by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The third installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series and the successor to '' Super Smash Bros. Melee'', it wa ...

'', ''

'', and '' Marvel vs. Capcom 2''. The ''Brawl'' tournament was widely criticized for its ruleset, which allowed items on and saw a relatively unknown player defeat

Ken Hoang Ken Hoang (born October 10, 1985), also known as Kenny, SephirothKen, or Liquid`Ken, is an American professional '' Super Smash Bros. Melee'' player and television personality. Hoang was widely considered the most dominant ''Melee'' player in ...

. Evo 2008 also allowed attendees a preview of '' BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger'', ''

Street Fighter IV is a 2008 fighting game developed by Capcom and Dimps and published by Capcom. It was the first original main entry in the series since '' Street Fighter III'' in 1997, a hiatus of eleven years. Designed for the Taito Type X2 arcade hardware, ...

'', ''

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix'' is a 2008 fighting game initially released on the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Arcade services. A physical copy of the game was later released as part of '' Capcom Digital Collection''. It is a remake ...

'', and '' Tatsunoko vs. Capcom''.

2009–13: ''Street Fighter IV'', live streams, and record numbers

Evo 2009 took place on July 17 to 19. Held at the Rio Convention Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada, the tournament itself would feature six games on its official roster: ''

Soulcalibur IV is a 2008 fighting game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. As the fifth main entry in the ''Soulcalibur'' series, it marks a significant evolution in gameplay with enhanced graphics and new features ...

'', ''Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core'', '' Marvel vs. Capcom 2'', '' Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike'', ''

'' and ''

''. Notably, the newly released ''Street Fighter IV'' increased Evo attendance by a considerable margin, and the tournament for it alone boasted more than 1000 participants, almost three times that of the tournaments for the other games. Evo 2010, held at

Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesar ...

from July 9, 2010 through July 11, 2010 had a massive number of competitors, with ''Super Street Fighter IV'' amassing approximately 1,800 players to duel for a $20,000 guaranteed prize pot. Most notable in this EVO was Justin Wong cementing his dominance in ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2'' in its proverbial

swan song The swan song (; ) is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. The phrase refers to an ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful song just before their death while they have been ...

, defeating the champion of the previous year, Sanford Kelly. Also notable was Wong failing to make the top 8 in ''Super Street Fighter IV'', falling victim first to Vance "Vangief" Wu, and soon after to Taiwanese player Bruce "GamerBee" Hsiang. '' Melty Blood: Actress Again'' was included after a poll on Shoryuken.com to decide on the final game of the tournament, beating out ''Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike'', ''Capcom vs. SNK 2'', ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2'', ''Soulcalibur IV'', and ''

The King of Fighters XII (''KOF XII'') is a 2009 arcade video game produced by SNK Playmore and the twelfth installment in ''The King of Fighters'' series of fighting games, following '' The King of Fighters XI'' (2005). Built on Taito Type X2 hardware, home ports were ...

''. '' BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger'' was to be included, but after a majority of the community moved on to '' BlazBlue: Continuum Shift'', the decision was made to replace it with ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2''. Also notable was G4's limited coverage of the event, even offering ''

X-Play ''Xplay'' (previously ''GameSpot TV'', ''Extended Play'', and ''X-Play'') was a television program about video games. The program, known for its reviews and comedy skits, aired on G4 in the United States and has aired on '' G4 Canada'' in Canada ...

'' host

Adam Sessler Adam Donovan Sessler (born August 29, 1973) is an American video game journalist, television personality and consultant. He is best known as the host for the video game review series ''Xplay'' and the editor-in-chief for G4's video game section. ...

for commentary of the ''Super Street Fighter IV'' finals. EVO 2011 Street Fighter cosplayers

For Evo 2011, a tournament season was announced in which players could earn ranking points at one of eight tournaments. It took place at the

Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino The Rio is a hotel and casino near the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It is owned and operated by Dreamscape Companies LLC. It includes a casino and 2,520 suites. It features a Brazilian theme based on Rio Carnival. The Ri ...

from July 29 to 31, utilizing a ballroom. All 50 states of the U.S. were represented, as well as 44 additional countries. Its livestream was watched by over 2 million unique viewers on

UStream IBM Watson Media (formerly Ustream and IBM Cloud Video) is an American virtual events platform company which is a division of IBM. Prior to the IBM acquisition, it had more than 180 employees across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest office ...

over the course of the event. In attendance was Street Fighter series producer Ono Yoshinori, who announced a free balance patch for ''Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition''. ''

Tekken is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The franchise also includes film and print adaptations. The main games in the series follow the events ...

'' series producer Katsuhiro Harada was also on hand to show new mechanics for ''

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ''Tekken Tag Tournament 2'' is a 2011 fighting game, the eighth installment in the ''Tekken'' fighting game series and the sequel to ''Tekken Tag Tournament''. It was released for the arcade game, arcades in September 2011. It received an updat ...

'' and ''

Soulcalibur V is a 2012 fighting game developed by Soulcalibur, Project Soul and published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. As the sixth main installment in Namco's ''Soulcalibur (series), Soulcalibur'' series, ''Soulcalibur V'' serves ...

''. Other unreleased games shown were ''

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a 2011 crossover fighting game developed by Capcom in collaboration with Eighting. It is an updated version of '' Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds''. The game features characters from both Capcom's video game franchises and comic book ...

'', ''

King of Fighters XIII is a 2010 fighting game developed and published by SNK Playmore. It is the thirteenth installment in the ''The King of Fighters'' series. Released on Japanese arcade game, arcades, it was ported to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 globally in 2011, an ...

'', ''

Skullgirls ''Skullgirls'' is a 2012 fighting game, fighting video game developed by Reverge Labs and published by Autumn Games, originally released digitally for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and ported to various other home and portable systems afterwards. ...

'' and ''Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition''. A ''Skullgirls'' side tournament was held in which the winner received a one-of-a-kind Skullgirls-themed arcade stick. Media outlets G4,

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

and

Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017 and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. Histor ...

were all present to cover the event. Evo 2012 took place July 6 to 8, 2012, at

, Las Vegas. On January 3, Joey Cuellar announced that Evo 2012 would have 6 main tournament games, '' Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Version 2012)'', ''

'', ''

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The original ''Mortal Kombat (1992 video game), Mortal Kombat'' arcade game spawned Lis ...

'', ''

The King of Fighters XIII is a 2010 fighting game developed and published by SNK Playmore. It is the thirteenth installment in the ''The King of Fighters'' series. Released on Japanese arcades, it was ported to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 globally in 2011, and an update ...

'' and ''

Street Fighter X Tekken (pronounced "Street Fighter Cross Tekken") is a 2012 crossover fighting video game published by Capcom, who developed with Dimps, for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, and with QLOC for Windows. The game features characters fro ...

''. The tournament series from the previous year returned, featuring seeding points for all six games in 17 events all across the world. Evo 2013 was announced on December 2, 2012. It was held on July 12–14 at

Paris Las Vegas Paris Las Vegas is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. Property features include a casino, 3,672 hotel rooms, a 1,400-seat performance theater, and various restaurants. ...

. On January 8, Joey Cuellar announced that EVO 2013 would have eight main tournament games, with the first seven revealed being ''

'', '' Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Version 2012)'', ''

'', ''

'', '' Street Fighter X Tekken (Version 2013)'', ''

'', and ''

Persona 4 Arena ''Persona 4 Arena'' is a fighting video game co-developed by P-Studio and Arc System Works and published by Atlus for arcades, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360; the game is a spin-off from the ''Persona'' series, itself part of the larger ''Megami Te ...

''. The eighth game was voted on by players via online donations, all proceeds of which went to the

Breast Cancer Research Foundation The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) is an independent, not-for-profit organization which has raised $569.4 million to support clinical and translational research on breast cancer at medical institutions in the United States and abroad. B ...

. The eventual winner of the poll was '' Super Smash Bros. Melee'' with $94,683 raised for that game, while the total amount of donations was $225,744.

Nintendo of America is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi founded the company to p ...

initially sent a

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the oth ...

letter to cancel the streaming of ''Melee'' matches, although after popular backlash a live stream was ultimately allowed to be carried out as planned. On May 7, 2013, it was announced that '' Injustice: Gods Among Us'' would be a main tournament game, thus expanding the game roster from eight to nine.

2014–19: ''Smash'' boom and international growth

Evo 2014 was announced on September 15, 2013. It was held on July 11–13, 2014 at the

Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino The Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino is a hotel, casino, and timeshare resort in Winchester, Nevada. Located near the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, it is owned by Westgate Resorts. It opened in 1969 as the International Hotel, and was ...

On February 6, 2014, Cuellar announced that Evo 2014 would include '' BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma'', ''Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3'', ''Injustice: Gods Among Us'', ''The King of Fighters XIII'', ''

Killer Instinct ''Killer Instinct'' is a series of fighting game, fighting video games originally created by Rare (company), Rare and published by Midway Games, Midway, Nintendo, and Microsoft Studios, Xbox Game Studios. The original Killer Instinct (1994 vide ...

'', and ''

Ultra Street Fighter IV is a 2008 fighting game developed by Capcom and Dimps and published by Capcom. It was the first original main entry in the series since ''Street Fighter III'' in 1997, a hiatus of eleven years. Designed for the Taito Type X2 Arcade video game, a ...

'' while also mentioning that discussions were ongoing with Nintendo on the possible inclusion of ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''. ''Melee'' was eventually officially added to the roster with Nintendo's approval. ''

'' was also later added to the roster. Evo 2015 took place on July 17–19, 2015 at the Bally's /

Casino. On January 20, 2015, Cuellar announced that Evo 2015 would include '' Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-'', ''

'', ''

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and , both commonly referred to together as ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' or ''Smash 4'', are 2014 crossover fighting games developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U video game cons ...

'', ''

Mortal Kombat X ''Mortal Kombat X'' is a 2015 fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the tenth main installment in the ''Mortal Kombat'' s ...

'', ''

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax ''Persona 4 Arena Ultimax'' is a fighting game, fighting video game co-developed by Arc System Works and P-Studio, and published by Atlus. It was released for arcade game, arcades in 2013, and for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2014 by Atlus in Ja ...

'', ''

'', '' Super Smash Bros. Melee'', and ''

Tekken 7 is a 2015 fighting game developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is the seventh main and ninth overall installment in the ''Tekken'' series, and is the first in that series to be released for PC. ''Tekken 7'' was released to Am ...

''. While EVO 2015 initially was supposed to run on the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

version for ''Ultra Street Fighter IV'', the tournament instead used the

version, due to a large number of bugs and glitches found by players in the newly released port. Cuellar also confirmed that EVO 2015 would use the technically outdated build of ''Persona 4 Arena Ultimax'' on

. On May 25, Cuellar confirmed that both ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' and ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U'' surpassed 1,500 entrants each. Cuellar later confirmed that ''Ultra Street Fighter IV'' surpassed 2,000 entrants. EVO 2015 also acted as a

Capcom Cup The Capcom Cup is an annual fighting game tournament specifically focused on the ''Street Fighter'' series. The event's first incarnation was in 2013 which featured '' Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition'' version 2012, '' Ultimate Marvel vs. ...

qualifier for ''Ultra Street Fighter IV'', as well as a Killer Instinct World Cup qualifier for ''Killer Instinct'', with both games receiving respective bonus pots of $50,000 from

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

and

Iron Galaxy Iron Galaxy Studios, LLC is an American video game developer studio based in Chicago, Illinois, with additional studios in Orlando, Florida, and Nashville, Tennessee. Iron Galaxy often collaborates with publishers and developers to provide "tec ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

respectively.

NetherRealm NetherRealm Studios is an American video game developer based in Chicago and owned by Warner Bros. Games. Led by video game industry veteran and ''Mortal Kombat'' co-creator Ed Boon, the studio is in charge of developing the ''Mortal Kombat'' ...

and

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

have also donated $50K towards the bonus pot for ''Mortal Kombat X'', due to the success of the Blue Steel Sub-Zero skin. In addition,

Atlus is a Japanese video game developer, video game publisher, publisher, Arcade game, arcade manufacturer and distribution company based in Tokyo. A subsidiary of Sega, the company is known for the ''Megami Tensei'', ''Persona (series), Persona'' ...

has donated $10K towards the bonus pot for ''Persona 4 Arena Ultimax'', while

Arc System Works , commonly referred to as ArcSys, is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher located in Yokohama. Founded by Minoru Kidooka in 1988, the company is known for arcade 2D fighting game franchises, including ''Guilty Gear ...

and

Aksys Games Aksys Games Localization, Inc. is a video game publisher that specializes in translating and localizing Japanese video games for English-speaking markets. It was founded by Akibo Shieh in 2006. Some of its clients include Bandai Namco Games, Xs ...

donated the same amount to the bonus pot for ''Guilty Gear Xrd''.

Bandai Namco (commonly known as and formerly Namco Bandai until 2015, also known as Bandai Namco Group,) is a Japanese mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 2005 by the merger of Namco and Bandai. The company specia ...

has announced that they have provided a $30K bonus pot for ''Tekken 7'' as well as providing all competitors in said game an exclusive T-shirt featuring franchise veteran

Lili Lili may refer to: People * Lili (given name), for a list of people with the given name or nickname Other uses * ''Lili'' (1953 film), a musical starring Leslie Caron and Mel Ferrer * Lili (Tekken), a character from the Tekken fighting game seri ...

and

Tekken Revolution was a free-to-play fighting game, fighting video game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games. It was released on the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Store in June 2013. It is the first game in the ''Tekken'' franchise to be made free-to ...

newcomer

Eliza ELIZA is an early natural language processing computer program developed from 1964 to 1967 at MIT by Joseph Weizenbaum. Created to explore communication between humans and machines, ELIZA simulated conversation by using a pattern matching and ...

Evo 2016 took place from July 15–17 at the

Las Vegas Convention Center The Las Vegas Convention Center (commonly referred to as LVCC) is a convention center in Winchester, Nevada. It is owned and operated by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. As one of the largest convention centers in the world, it ...

, while Sunday finals took take place at the

Mandalay Bay Events Center The Michelob Ultra Arena, formerly the Mandalay Bay Events Center, is a 12,000-seat multi-purpose indoor arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts Int ...

. The tournament featured ''

Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- is a fighting video game sub-series by Arc System Works and part of the ''Guilty Gear'' series. ''Guilty Gear Xrd'' was developed using Unreal Engine 3, with cel-shaded graphics in place of the series traditional hand drawn sprites. Following t ...

'', ''

Street Fighter V ''Street Fighter V'' is a 2016 fighting game developed by Capcom, Dimps and Taito and published by Capcom for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows, Windows. The major follow-up to ''Street Fighter IV'' (2008) as part of Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' ...

'', ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U'', '' Mortal Kombat XL'', ''

Pokkén Tournament is a 2015 Fighting game, fighting video game developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game combines gameplay elements from Bandai Namco's ''Tekken'' series and other fighting games, such as 3D and 2D movement, with characters from the ''Poké ...

'', ''

'', ''Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3'', and '' Tekken 7: Fated Retribution''. The tournaments for ''Street Fighter V'', ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', ''Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-'', ''Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3'', and ''Mortal Kombat XL'' finished on Sunday. The finals for ''Street Fighter V'' was broadcast live on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...

and live coverage of the tournament was available through ESPN's

WatchESPN ESPN began offering a TV Everywhere platform in 2010, allowing subscribers on participating Multichannel television, television providers in the United States to stream programming from ESPN's linear television channels online, on Mobile device, ...

service, in addition to the tournament's regular

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

streams. Joey Cuellar has announced record breaking numbers which includes ''

'' reaching more than 5,000 entrants, Smash 4 and

Melee A melee ( or ) is a confused hand-to-hand combat, hand-to-hand fight among several people. The English term ''melee'' originated circa 1648 from the French word ' (), derived from the Old French ''mesler'', from which '':wikt:medley, medley'' and ...

each reaching more than 2,000; Pokkén reaching more than 1,000 entrants while other games either increased or decreased. Like EVO 2015's Ultra Street Fighter IV finals,

and

have provided a $50,000 bonus pot towards

's prize pool and is also a

Capcom Pro Tour The Capcom Pro Tour is a series of international fighting game esports, tournaments sponsored by video game developer Capcom. The Pro Tour culminates in the annual Capcom Cup, a single-day tournament held in the San Francisco Bay Area. 2014 Cap ...

qualifier.

The Pokémon Company , simply known as Pokémon is a Japanese company responsible for brand management, production, publishing, marketing, and licensing of the ''Pokémon'' franchise, which consists of video games, a trading card game, anime television series, f ...

has announced a $10,000 bonus pot towards

's prize pool and is a Pokkén Tournament Championship Series qualifier, with 1st and 2nd place being able to qualify for the finals. As with EVO 2015,

and

have provided a $50,000 bonus pot towards Mortal Kombat XL's prize pool. ''Killer Instinct'' will be receiving a $15,000 bonus pot as part of the KI Ultra Tour funding. On July 11,

announced a $10,000 bonus pot towards

's prize pool. Evo 2017 took place on July 14 to 16 with the entire event being held at the

Mandalay Bay Mandalay Bay is a 43-story luxury resort and casino at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. It was developed by Circus Circus Enterprises and complete ...

resort. The tournament featured '' Guilty Gear Xrd REV2'', '' BlazBlue: Central Fiction'', ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U'', ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', ''

Injustice 2 ''Injustice 2'' is a 2017 fighting video game. It is the sequel to 2013's '' Injustice: Gods Among Us'' and the second installment in the ''Injustice'' series which is based on the DC Universe. It is developed by NetherRealm Studios and publish ...

'', ''Street Fighter V'', ''Tekken 7'', ''

The King of Fighters XIV is a 2016 fighting game developed by KOF Studio and published by SNK. It is the fourteenth main installment in the ''The King of Fighters'' series. It is the first game in the series to be rendered entirely in 3D, although gameplay is restri ...

'', and ''Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3''. The ninth game was chosen by a donation drive which all of the funds have gone towards Make-A-Wish International. ''Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3'' was the winning game with ''Pokkén Tournament'' being the runner-up. Other games in contention were '' Skullgirls: 2nd Encore'', ''

ARMS Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

'', ''Mortal Kombat XL'', '' Nidhogg'', ''

Windjammers A windjammer is a commercial sailing ship with multiple masts, however rigged. The informal term "windjammer" arose during the transition from the Age of Sail to the Steam-powered vessel, Age of Steam during the 19th century. The Oxford English ...

'', ''Killer Instinct'', and ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo''. The Sunday finals included ''Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3'' (as the opening game), ''BlazBlue: Central Fiction'', ''Tekken 7'', ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U'', and ''Street Fighter V''. Upon the victory of ''UMvC3'', Cuellar announced that Evo 2017 would be running the event with the

version being used. Evo 2018 took place on August 3 to 5 with the entire event being held at the

resort. The tournament featured ''Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition'', ''Tekken 7'', ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U'', ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', '' BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle'', ''Guilty Gear Xrd REV2'', ''Injustice 2'', and ''

Dragon Ball FighterZ ''Dragon Ball FighterZ'' (pronounced "ˈfaɪtəz") is a 2.5D fighting game co-developed by Arc System Works and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Based on the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise, it was released for the PlayStation 4, Windows, and ...

''. Evo 2019 took place on August 2 to 4 with the entire event being held at the

resort. The tournament featured ''Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition'', ''Tekken 7'', ''

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is a 2018 crossover fighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series, succeeding ' ...

'', ''

Mortal Kombat 11 ''Mortal Kombat 11'' is a 2019 fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the eleventh main installment in the ''Mortal Kombat'' series and a sequel to '' Mortal Kombat X'' (20 ...

'', ''

Soulcalibur VI is a 2018 fighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Dimps, and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. As the seventh main installment and a reboot (fiction), reboot of the ''Soulcalibur'' series, it was released for the PlayStation 4 ...

'', '' Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late t', ''Dragon Ball FighterZ'', ''BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle'', and ''

Samurai Shodown ''Samurai Shodown'', known in Japan as is a fighting game series by SNK. The series began in 1993 and is known for being one of the earliest in the genre with a primary focus on weapon-based combat. Plot The stories in the series take place i ...

''.

2020–present: COVID-19 cancellation and new ownership

Evo 2020 was to have taken place from July 31 to August 2 at the

resort. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the physical event had been canceled, with all event and hotel reservations to be refunded. Online tournament events had been scheduled from July 4 to August 2 as replacement activities. However, at the start of July 2020, charges of sexual misconduct were leveled at EVO CEO Joey Cuellar. The EVO board released Cuellar on July 2 and replaced him with Tony Cannon as interim CEO but by then, several publishers including Capcom, Bandai Namco, NetherRealm, and Mane6 had decided to pull out from the event. The EVO board decided to cancel the event, refund those tickets and donate the remaining funds to

Project HOPE Project Hope (希望工程; ''Xiwang gongcheng'') is a Chinese public service project organized by the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF) and the Communist Youth League (CYL) Central Committee. Started in 1989, it aims to bring schools i ...

. On March 18, 2021, it was announced that Evo had been acquired by a joint venture between

and the talent agency Endeavor (RTS). It was concurrently announced that Evo Online 2021 will be held August 6–8 and August 13–15, 2021, and feature ''

Guilty Gear Strive (stylized as GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE-) is a 2021 fighting game developed and published by Arc System Works. It is the seventh mainline installment in the ''Guilty Gear'' series, and the 25th overall. The game was released for PlayStation 4, PlaySta ...

,'' ''Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate,'' ''Street Fighter V: Champion Edition'', ''Tekken 7'', and '' Skullgirls: 2nd Encore''. Evo stated that the Sony ownership of the competition will not affect its ability to include events for non-PlayStation games, although all games in the 2021 lineup are either available on, or console-exclusive to, PlayStation. Evo 2022 took place from August 5 to 7 at the

resort. The event is the first since 2019 to take place in-person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament featured ''Dragon Ball FighterZ'', '' Granblue Fantasy: Versus'', ''Guilty Gear Strive'', ''

The King of Fighters XV is a 2022 fighting game developed by KOF Studio and published by SNK in Japan and Koch Media internationally for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. It is the fifteenth main installment in the ''The King of Fighters'' seri ...

'', '' Melty Blood: Type Lumina'', ''Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate'', ''Skullgirls: 2nd Encore'', ''Street Fighter V: Champion Edition'', and ''Tekken 7''. Evo 2023 was announced for August 4 to 6, with ''

Street Fighter 6 ''Street Fighter 6'' is a 2023 fighting game developed and published by Capcom. It is the seventh main entry in the ''Street Fighter'' franchise, following ''Street Fighter V'' (2016), and was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows ...

'', ''Guilty Gear Strive'', ''Dragon Ball FighterZ'', ''The King of Fighters XV'', ''Melty Blood: Type Lumina'', ''Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate'' and ''Tekken 7'' all being featured. ''

'' was also announced as the eighth game of the lineup, serving to launch a new category dubbed a Throwback Tournament. Additionally, a pre-release tournament for '' Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising'' was held, acting as the unofficial ninth lineup title. The event also underwent a format change, with finals switching from Top 8 to Top 6, seemingly due to runtime concerns. With 9,182 entrants, Evo 2023 was the largest Evo tournament in its over two decade history. EVO 2024 took place from July 19 to 21 and was held in the

. The lineup included ''Street Fighter 6'', ''

Tekken 8 is a 2024 fighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Arika and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is the eighth main installment (and tenth overall entry) in the ''Tekken'' series and the first one to debut on home systems ins ...

'', ''

Mortal Kombat 1 ''Mortal Kombat 1'' is a 2023 fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Games. It is the twelfth main installment in the ''Mortal Kombat'' series, and serves as its second Reboot (fiction), reboot after 2011' ...

'', ''Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising'', '' Under Night In-Birth II ys:Celes', ''Guilty Gear -Strive-'', and ''The King of Fighters XV'', with ''Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike'' being the year's Throwback Tournament in celebration of both the 25th anniversary of the game, as well as the 20th anniversary of Moment #37. EVO 2025 is set to be held from August 1 to August 3, with a lineup of ''Street Fighter 6'', ''Tekken 8'', ''Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising'', ''Guilty Gear -Strive-'', ''Under Night In-Birth II ys:Celes', '' Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves'', and ''Mortal Kombat 1'', with '' Marvel vs. Capcom 2'' being featured as the Throwback Tournament. Additionally, 2025 saw the debut of the Evo Extended Lineup, a series of side tournaments officially organized and recognized by Evo despite not being featured in the main arena lineup. The inaugural Extended Lineup included ''

'', '' Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O.'', ''

Rivals of Aether II ''Rivals of Aether II'', formerly known as ''Rivals 2'', is a 2024 platform fighting video game that serves as a direct sequel to ''Rivals of Aether'' (2017). Unlike its predecessor, which featured 2D pixel art graphics, it is played in 2.5D ...

'', ''The King of Fighters XV'', '' BlazBlue: Central Fiction'', '' Guilty Gear Xrd REV2'', ''

'' and ''

''. The Top 8 format also returned.

Outside Vegas

In 2010, the Evolution Championship organizers announced an official spin-off to the tournament series called "Evo vs Godsgarden", to be held in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

the following year. However, the tournament was called off following the Tohoku earthquake and postponed indefinitely. During a

Nico Nico , known before 2012 as , is a Japanese video sharing service based in Tokyo, Japan. "Niconico" or "nikoniko" is the Japanese ideophone for smiling. As of 2021, Niconico is the 34th most-visited website in Japan, according to Alexa Internet. Th ...

livestream following Evo 2013, Cuellar stated that he was still interested in holding a Japan-based tournament. It was announced at Evo 2016 that a separate event simply titled "Evo Japan" is to be held in Japan. Japanese media companies , , and together invested a total of US$1 million into the event. During a presentation at the

Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game trade fair and convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publication ...

in 2016, the Evolution organizers announced that the tournament is to be held in January 2018, while some form of "pre-tournament" took place in 2017. At

Evo 2017 The 2017 Evolution Championship Series (commonly referred to as Evo 2017) was a fighting game event held in Las Vegas on July 14–16 that was part of the long-running Evolution Championship Series. The event offered tournaments for various fighti ...

, the

Evo Japan 2018 The 2018 Japanese Evolution Championship Series, commonly referred to as Evo Japan 2018, was a fighting game event held in Tokyo, Japan on January 26–28. As mentioned in its namesake, the event was the first Evo event to take place in Japan and ...

lineup was revealed to consist of ''

'', ''

Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 is a fighting game, fighting video game sub-series by Arc System Works and part of the ''Guilty Gear'' series. ''Guilty Gear Xrd'' was developed using Unreal Engine 3, with Cel shading, cel-shaded graphics in place of the series traditional spri ...

'', ''

'', '' BlazBlue: Central Fiction'', ''

'', and ''

''; the event took place from January 26 to 28. The lineup is known to emphasize titles that are popular in Japan, as titles such as '' Super Smash Bros. Melee'', ''

'', and '' Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite'' are notably absent mostly due to their lack of popularity in the region. Despite the 7,000 entrants, Evo Japan ended up reporting a $1.13m loss according to financial reports by Hearts United Group. Evo Japan 2019 was held in February 2019. In October 2019, it was revealed that ''

'' would be the headlining game for ''Evo Japan 2020''. Following EVO 2022, the Evo Japan 2023 tournament was unveiled. This will have a lineup of ''

'', ''Street Fighter V'', ''Tekken 7'', ''

'', '' Granblue Fantasy: Versus'', '' Melty Blood: Type Lumina'', and '' Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown''. The event was planned to take place in March 2023. In August 2023, it was announced that the Evo Japan 2024 tournament will be held in April 2024. The year's lineup included ''

'', ''

'', '' Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising'', ''

'', and '' Under Night In-Birth II ys:Celes', with '' Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike'' as the Throwback Tournament. August 2023 also saw an announcement that Evo will be introducing a third event in a new location in 2024. In July 2024, it was announced that the third event, Evo France, would take place in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionFatal Fury: City of the Wolves'' and ''

''. Additionally, it was also announced that a fourth event would debut in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in 2026, and that a new awards show called the Evo Awards would take place February 2025 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In December, it was announced that Evo Japan would take place on May 9-11 2025 in Tokyo, with a lineup consisting of ''Street Fighter 6'', ''Tekken 8'', ''Guilty Gear Strive'', ''Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising'' and ''The King of Fighter XV'', with ''Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike'' and '' Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O.'' being featured in special 5-on-5 team tournaments.

Events

Battle by the Bay

Evo

^** denotes an Extended Lineup title.

Evo Japan

Evo Awards

Evo France

Evo Singapore

Champions

References

External links

* {{Fighting game community 1996 establishments in California Annual events in Nevada Nintendo events Recurring events established in 1996 Super Smash Bros. tournaments 2021 mergers and acquisitions Sony Interactive Entertainment Joint ventures