Evolution Championship Series (known as Evo) announced it will return to Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino for the second-consecutive year with an exciting slate of both new and returning fighting games as well as select finals to once again be held at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Street Fighter 6 will be making its Evo debut this year after its launch this summer.
The eight fighting games that will be featured at Evo on August 4-6, 2023 are:
- Street Fighter 6 - 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 (Lasengle)
- Dragon Ball FighterZ - PS4 (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 - PS4 (Capcom)
“We are excited to once again feature an incredible lineup of fighting games at Evo 2023 and are thrilled to be including our first Evo Throwback tournament with Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3,” said Rick Thiher, General Manager of Evo. “This year we’re establishing $25,000 minimum prize pools for each tournament in our lineup, and continuing our efforts to improve the Evo event experience for players and fans.”
This year’s featured Evo tournament titles represent the diverse fighting gaming community. The freshly launched Street Fighter 6 will be part of the Evo lineup and Tekken 7 will make its seventh appearance at Evo. For the second-straight year, Guilty Gear -Strive-, will be featured in the slate of games along with The King Of Fighters XV.
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate returns for the third time and Dragon Ball FighterZ will once again feature unique true-to-the-anime gameplay and team vs. team matches. Following the success of the debut of Melty Blood: Type Lumina at Evo last year, the game will be back this summer.
For the first time ever at Evo, all tournaments in 2023 will now feature a $25,000 minimum prize pool. The Evo Showcase will return to Mandalay Bay on Friday, Aug 4, with exciting panels, music showcases, featured exhibitions and community highlights to display the extraordinary history of competitive fighting games. The Indie Fighting Game Gallery is also returning with more games being shown and on-site museums, including the Arcade Stick Museum, will be expanding this year.
In 2022, Evo returned to its first in-person event since 2019 in front of nearly 18,000 in attendance, with over 3.7 million people viewing the streams, and the average person watching the event online for about 82 minutes. The event welcomed more than 7,000 competitors from 63 countries, and for the first time, the world’s most storied fighting game championship had a free-play arcade with over 120 machines and it will be even larger in 2023.
During the Evo announcement show tonight it was revealed that Chipotle will be the presenting partner for Evo 2023. The brand’s presence will feature a Community Lounge, mini pick-up brackets, giveaways and chances to win free Chipotle. This partnership will bring an elevated experience for competitors and spectators alike.
Registration is open now and fans can purchase tickets at evo.gg. Hotel rooms will be available at Mandalay Bay and for those who want to watch, tournaments will be streamed live for the entirety of the event.
Evo Japan will return to Tokyo on March 31-April 2, 2023 at the Tokyo Big Sight as the venue will host the historic fighting game tournaments.