Following its pivot to digital events, the Evolution Championship Series (known as the Evo) is returning to an in-person event venue. A special announcement stream revealed that the festivities are returning to Evo's usual home in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on August 5-7.
The revealed stream not only shared the return to form but also the games featured in the popular fighting game tournament. The lineup of titles includes:
- Street Fighter V: Champion Edition – PS4
- Guilty Gear -Strive- PS4
- Mortal Kombat 11: Ultimate – PS4
- Tekken 7 – PS4
- The Kind of the Fighters XV – PS4
- Melty Blood: Type Lumina – PS4
- Dragon Ball FighterZ – PS4
- Granblue Fantasy: Versus – PS4
- Skullgirls: 2nd Encore – PS4
This year's Evo is the first to be hosted individually since PlayStation's initial acquisition of the famous tournament. PlayStation announced a return to offline competition last year during its Evo Online edition, which received mixed reactions from both viewers and contestants.
Since then, the Evo has undergone several management changes. Popular Twitch streamer Pokemon became a co-owner of the event, but one of the most significant changes is the fact that Rick "Dahadou" Thiehar is now Evo's general manager. Thiher is the founder and owner of Combo Breaker, a tournament widely regarded as the best in the fighting game community, giving fans high hopes for this year's competition.
Fighting game fans can tune in to Evo via its official Twitch channel from August 5 to 7. Registration is also now open for fans and competitors to purchase tickets on evo.gg.