EVO announces 2022 lineup, including Street Fighter V, Tekken 7
Annual fighting game esports tournament Evolution Championship Series (EVO) has revealed the lineup of games for EVO 2022. The 2022 season of the tournament is expected to be held on August 5-7 in Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Street Fighter V and Tekken 7 are returning as they are EVO staples. Some titles, however, will be played in EVO for the first time.
Lineup
EVO 2022 full lineup is as follows:
– Street Fighter V: Champion Edition – PS4 (Capcom)
– Guilty Gear -Strive- PS4 (Arc System Works)
– Mortal Kombat 11: Ultimate – PS4 (Warner Bros. Games)
– TEKKEN 7 – PS4 (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
– THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV – PS4 (SNK)
– MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA – PS4 (Project Lumina)
– DRAGON BALL FighterZ – PS4 (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
– Granblue Fantasy: Versus – PS4 (Cygames and XSEED)
– Skullgirls: 2nd Encore – PS4 (Autumn Games)
EVO’s vision for the event
“We are thrilled to present a slate of fighting games representing so many of the genre’s player-bases for EVO 2022,” EVO general manager Rick Thriller said.
“There is nothing like the global fighting game community’s energy when we gather for EVO, and I’m greatly looking forward to seeing what happens when we start the event series’ next chapter together later this year.”
EVO was co-founded by Tom Cannon with its root being in the tournaments hosted in Northern California in the mid-90s. It then continued to be one of the world’s most popular fighting game events until today. It returns this year after last year’s event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The players invited to participate in the Evo 2021 Showcase represent many of the best fighters in the world. We’re incredibly saddened to cancel the event,” EVO announced the cancellation of the event.
Being absent from the event is Super Smash Bros. as Nintendo announced last month that it had decided to not have any of their games at the event. It is likely the decision was made after Sony’s decision to purchase the tournament in 2021.
“While we’re thankful for all the amazing games joining us later this year in Las Vegas, we want to let you know in advance that Super Smash Bros. will not be making a return appearance,” EVO announced in February.
“Since 2007, we’ve seen historic Super Smash Bros. moments created at EVO’s events. We are saddened that Nintendo has chosen not to continue that legacy with us this year. In the future, we hope to once again celebrate the Super Smash Bros. community alongside them.”
Meanwhile, Nintendo did not rule out the possibility of coming back to EVO.
“We will continue to assess Evo, and other opportunities, as we plan for future online and offline Super Smash Bros. tournament activity,” Nintendo said.
It could also be that Nintendo pulled out from EVO due to their newly built partnership with Panda Global to host the first officially licensed series of Super Smash Bros. eSports tournaments in North America.
Players and esports teams who are interested in joining EVO 2022 can register on EVO’s website.
