Fighting Games Friday: It’s Evo 2023!
The Evolution Championship Series 2023, also known as and referred to heretofore as Evo 2023, has finally arrived. The event is the closest thing to the Super Bowl of fighting game tournaments, in which the biggest fighting game players around the world gather for the top prizes in the world’s most popular fighting games at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. The lineup this year features a host of returning games, and a big new one that will be the main centerpiece throughout the weekend. The physical and online gathering of fighting game fans has also made it a central place for publishers to provide fighting game news, including updates for current titles and the unveiling of brand-new games.
The centerpiece will, of course, be Capcom’s Street Fighter 6, released a mere two months ago. There have been appetizers regarding what to expect from tournament-level play from smaller venues like CEO and other independent tournaments. But this will be the grandest stage yet to see what the world’s strongest players (the World Warriors, if you will) have learned in a short time. One of the game’s strongest aspects involves the sheer number of offensive and defensive techniques at the disposal of each player, which will lead to displays of incredible combos that most players didn’t think were previously possible being demonstrated over the weekend. It’s not, to be fair, like we haven’t already seen some of those already. I think the finals will entertain players more than Street Fighter IV’s and Street Fighter V’s final matches did in previous years.
The tournaments for Tekken 7 and Mortal Kombat 11 will be worthwhile for a different reason: This will be the final year for both games as part of the main Evo lineup. Tekken 8 won’t arrive as soon as some players expected, with the slowed-down pace of character reveals and Bandai Namco’s continued silence on even a release timeframe being a solid hint that it won’t release until early 2024 at the earliest. But there’s no way the development team will pass up on releasing the game before Evo 2024. At least Tekken 7 will still be seen at other tournaments before Tekken 8 arrives.
It, meanwhile, will be the last big tournament for Mortal Kombat 11, prior to Mortal Kombat 1’s release next month. The Mortal Kombat games are the most popular fighters outside the Super Smash Bros. games among the mainstream audience. (Don’t even start arguing that Smash Bros. is not a REAL fighting game, please.) But the games were never popular among the tournament playing and watching audience, with player registration and viewership sometimes dipping below more ostensibly niche titles like the Guilty Gear games. MK11 made the list thanks to it being among the staples from prior years.
This could also be the fate of The King of Fighters XV, depending on whether the upcoming downloadable content characters maintain its popularity among the fighting game community. That could also depend on when Fatal Fury/Garou: Mark of the Wolves 2 could release. The same will apply to Melty Blood: Type Lumina considering the new title just announced by developer French-Bread. That’s too specific of a name for it to be made up, so I’d be surprised if it isn’t revealed over the weekend.
Meanwhile, I’m surprised that Dragon Ball FighterZ is still here, as it hasn’t received any new content in over a year. It speaks to the continued popularity of the franchise and Arc System Works’ tag-team fighter that it’s returned yet again, though whether it will remain popular at tournaments from here on will depend on whether rollback netplay rejuvenates the player base. Well, assuming it stops being delayed.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is in a league of its own, a game returning because its matches were among the most exciting during prior Evo tournaments. It also hasn’t been superseded with a replacement since its original release in 2011, with Dragon Ball FighterZ not quite inheriting the player base after its matches dragging on for so long (fitting for the franchise, if you think about it) and the overall series not having the same level of appeal as the Marvel Comics universe. Little has changed with UMvC3’s gameplay and meta game since the original release, but it could still be fun to watch.
The tournaments will forever remain the most appealing factor of Evo, but it’s also become the place for fighting game news. Updates for currently-supported fighting games will be provided, perhaps including the new updates coming to Guilty Gear Strive’s third season in addition to new roster additions. There should also be brand-new reveals, like — and I’m crossing my fingers here — the gameplay reveal of Mark of the Wolves 2, announced at last year’s event. News will be provided throughout the weekend, but most of it should come on Sunday, on the same day as the long-running finals. But at least Dragon Ball FighterZ’s prolonged finals will happen on Saturday.
It’s going to be a fun weekend for anyone who likes to play fighting games and watch players use characters on previously-unseen playability levels. There might be too much to watch in one weekend, but at least the streams will be archived for anyone interested to catch up.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
