One of the biggest events on the fighting game calendar, the Evolution Championship Series, sees thousands of competitors descend upon the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for a festival of FGC goodness. This year will be no different, and now the games that will take centre stage have been revealed.
The full list is:
- Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r]
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Dragon Ball FighterZ —
- Tekken 7 — Tekken World Tour Master Plus event
- Marvel vs Capcom 2
- Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
- Soulcalibur VI — Soulcalibur World Tour Edge Master Plus event
- Granblue Fantasy Versus — Arc World Tour Platinum event
- Samurai Shodown
The first big surprise is the absence of NetherRealm's Mortal Kombat 11, meaning the studio misses out on official EVO selection for the first time since 2011.
In its place, Marvel vs Capcom 2 makes a return — the first time it's been on show since 2010. This time, the organisers have chosen to honour the game's 20th anniversary with a special invitational tournament styled the "20urnament of Champions" and carrying a prize pool of at least $10,000.
Eight players will do battle, including four who have previously won the big EVO prize, including the legendary Justin Wong — winner of MvC2 seven times in the ten years the game featured as a main tournament — alongside Sandford Kelly, Duc Do, and Michael "YipeS" Mendoza.
Another surprise, that's perhaps not really a surprise, is the choice of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate over the more traditional Melee. The Switch edition of the Nintendo brawler is a more complete version of the game, and as such is expected to see massive numbers enter — just like like year's debut edition.
Two titles will make their debuts at the event, with neither Granblue Fantasy Versus nor Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r] even released yet. The former is making its way to Japanese players as we speak, with a US release next month, and UNICLR drops later this month.
It's also not clear whether EVO will be part of the Capcom World Tour for Street Fighter V, having previously been a Super Premier event — the highest ranking event outside of the season-ending Capcom Cup.
EVO famously hosts several unofficial side tournaments, so it's likely Mortal Kombat 11 will feature in some form or another. It's also known for being a place for major announcements, such as new character reveals and brand new games for the community, as was the case with Riot Games in 2019.
The Evolution Championship Series takes place on the weekend of July 31 to August 2, 2020 at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas.
Stay tuned for more news!
Over the years, Evo has become a rival to E3 when it comes to announcements — specifically for games part of the FGC. Here you can find everything revealed at Evo 2019.
