The eSports scene is stronger than it’s ever been.
Masterful players who wish to prove to the world that they’re the best showcase their skills at video game tournaments. Fame and notoriety are gained by those who end up winning national and global tourney’s for popular FPS, MOBA, sports and fighting games. Speaking of fighting games, one tournament that’s closely associated with the FGC is Evo. 2016’s edition of the fighting game invitational was intense and that sentiment looks to be the same for 2017’s installment. The games have been selected, the entrant numbers have been tallied and big announcements have been teased. From July 14-16, Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay will once again host the best of the best in the FGC.
This preview guide should get you all ready for what’s to come at Evo 2017.
1. Nine Fighters Make Up the Lineup of Main Tournament Games This Year
US Gamer
So the games that have been selected for this year’s Evo are Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, Injustice 2, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, The King of Fighters XIV and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The entrant numbers for each game have been finalized and the results are telling of each game’s popularity. SFV has dropped from 5.1K entrants in 2016 to 2,622 entrants this year, while Tekken 7’s entrant numbers from last year have doubled this year (from 543 entrants to now over 1K entrants).
Refer to the list below to check out the final entrant numbers for each game:
– Street Fighter V: 2,622
– Super Smash Bros. for Wii U: 1,515
– Super Smash Bros. Melee: 1,435
– Tekken 7: 1,278
– Injustice 2: 883
– Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2: 827
– Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3: 648
– BlazBlue: Central Fiction: 499
– The King of Fighters XIV: 375 (a $14K pot bonus has been added by SNK & Atlus!)
Feel free to check out the brackets and time scheduling for each game at Smash.gg. If you’re looking for the Twitch live stream schedule for all those games, head to this link. Also, the finals lineup for Sunday was revealed and it goes like this – UMVC3, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Tekken 7, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and SFV. And once again, ESPN2 will broadcast the finals for SFV on Sunday, July 16 at 7pm PST/10pm EST.
2. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Ended Up Winning the Player’s Choice Voting
Evo Shoryuken
Fans were given the choice to select the final game to be featured at this year’s EVO through the Player’s Choice fundraiser. The titles that were voted and financially supported for this event were Pokkén Tournament, UMVC3, WindJammers, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Nidhogg, Killer Instinct, ARMS, Skullgirls and Mortal Kombat XL. After all was said and done, UMV3 ended up garnering the most money and got slotted into the final game spot for Evo this year. The total amount of money raised (over $150K) by all these games was donated to Make-a-Wish International.
You can see just how much each game garnered in the list below:
– UMVC3: $71,690 (1,477 Donors)
– Pokkén Tournament: $66,906 (744 Donors)
– Killer Instinct: $6,116 (159 Donors)
– WindJammers: $4K (80 Donors)
– ARMS: $1,337 (74 Donors)
– Skullgirls: $920 (39 Donors)
– Super Street Fighter II Turbo: $831 (22 Donors)
– Nidhogg: $158 (11 Donors)
– Mortal Kombat XL: $ 137 (8 Donors)
In a cool gesture from the event organizers at Evo, $10K will be committed to the Pokkén Tournament community’s tournaments throughout the rest of 2017 thanks to their strong donation efforts.
3. Anime Fighting Games Will Get Some Shine During AnimEVO’s Side Tournaments
Another staple of Evo are the side tournaments that focus on the more anime-flavored fighters and its dedicated community. Evo 2017 will once again feature the AnimEVO Waifu Series and is set to include the following games for tournament play:
– Guilty Gear XX Accent Core +R
– Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition
– Under Night In-Birth: Exe Late
– Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code
– Gundam Extreme Vs. Full Boost
– Vampire Savior
– Nitroplus Blasterz
– Chaos Code: New Sign of Catastrophe
– Aquapazza
– Puyo Puyo Tetris
– Arcana Heart 3: Love Max!!!!!
You can find the Twitch live stream scheduling for all the games listed above here and here.
4. Several Anticipated Fighters Will Be Playable During the Show; Expect Big Announcements
Bandai Namco
To add even more hype to all of Evo 2017’s planned festivities, several upcoming fighting games will be available for play on the show floor. The latest playable builds for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Dissidia Final Fantasy NT and Akira’s newest fighting game title will all be in attendance this year. Dragon Ball FighterZ will possibly debut even more roster additions in gameplay trailer form.
A special side tourney has even been organized for Dragon Ball FighterZ. As for Akira, the “Fighting EX Layer” game trailer they released this year during April Fool’s Day will certainly be the fighter they’re showcasing. Expect big reveals for the rest of the games being demoed at Evo 2017, too (Punch Planet, Pokkén Tournament DX, Omen of Sorrow and Fantasy Strike will also be in attendance).
5. Evo’s Heading to the Land of the Rising Sun for the First Time in 2018
Evo has gotten so big that it’s going to held in another country next year before the Las Vegas edition kicks off. Evo Japan (January 26-28, 2018) is being prepped and is set to go down at Akihabara UDX in Tokyo, Japan. Evo Japan was first announced during Evo 2016 and the further details were given out during last year’s Tokyo Game Show. A special lead-up tournament called [sài] wrapped up in May and featured Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, Tekken 7, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and The King of Fighters XIV.
Noriyuki Kaneko, the chairman of Evo Japan Secretariat, released an official statement on this big international tournament:
Fighting games have been around for over 30 years, stemming from a single genre within the arcade gaming industry it has evolved and transcended the world of gaming. In recent years the fighting game communities based out of North America have expanded the genre and player base, most notably through Evo and has had great success in hosting the world’s largest open gaming tournament – for all games. I am honored to be part of an Evo event in Japan, the birthplace of the fighting game, not only as part of the staff but also as a fighting game fan & player.
Although it is known that Evo is the world’s biggest open gaming tournament, it’s more than just that. In my experience, Evo is also the best event for the separate fighting game communities. Evo Japan will work to unite these many communities and fighting gamers from all over the world as well. We welcome everyone that has their own specific goals, ideas and purposes and hope to enjoy fighting games together.
We look forward to seeing you at Evo Japan 2018, let’s have a great time together!
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Evo 2017: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know