If you’re even a little familiar with fighting games, you’ll know of the Evolution Championship Series, or Evo for short. It is, after all, the largest fighting game tournament, with an event in Japan in the early first half of every year, and a Las Vegas main event in August. Sony is making a big entry into the fighting game scene, by acquiring the tournament.
More specifically, Sony Interactive Entertainment and RTS, an esports venture from Endeavor, jointly acquired the “assets and properties” of the Evo series. This effectively means that future Evo tourneys are basically PlayStation events. According to IGN, Evo co founders Tony and Tom Cannon will remain as key advisors.
Following the acquisition, SIE also announced that this year’s Evo will be a digital tourney. The dates are between 6 and 8 August, with another set taking place from 13 to 15 August.
Also very important to note. @EVO is still open to all platforms. The teams at PlayStation and RTS are enabling us to continue working with our community to support fighting games. https://t.co/NKMQUSvkfj
— Mark Julio 『マークマン』 (@MarkMan23) March 18, 2021
With the acquisition, the FGC community is naturally worried about non-PlayStation titles getting axed from the event. But fortunately, Evo business developer Mark “MarkMan” Julio tweeted that the tourney is still open to all platforms.
Nintendo has also provided a statement to IGN regarding the acquisition. In it the company says that it will continue to “assess Evo, and other opportunities”. Which sounds like nothing much will change in the part of the organisers and participants.
(Source: Mark “MarkMan” Julio / Twitter, IGN. Image: PlayStation / Twitter)
