After a change in management and two years without an in-person event, the world’s premier fighting game tournament, the Evolution Championship Series, is returning to Las Vegas, Nevada, this weekend. Even without the pull of Super Smash Bros., Evo 2022 has attracted more than 5,000 players in a variety of different games.
In addition, viewers can look forward to a number of side events outside of the core nine-game line-up. Here’s everything fighting game fans need to know before Evo 2022 kicks off this weekend.
We have loved the competition through our online events, but nothing beats live, in-person tournaments between players from around the world.
It has been too long since we have experienced the spirit of the FGC in person together.
Evo is back in Las Vegas August 5-7 in 2022. pic.twitter.com/fHa7CSVC3Z
— EVO (@EVO) August 14, 2021
Featured games
As per usual, the main roster at Evo 2022 includes nine different games, with four of them making their debut appearance at this year’s event. Here are the nine featured games and how many attendees have registered for them:
- Guilty Gear Strive (2,158 entrants)
- Street Fighter V: Championship Edition (1,324 entrants)
- Tekken 7 (1,218 entrants)
- The King of Fighters XV (1,009 entrants)
- Dragon Ball FighterZ (635 entrants)
- Granblue Fantasy: Versus (525 entrants)
- Mortal Kombat 11: Ultimate (462 entrants)
- Melty Blood: Type Lumina (411 entrants)
- Skullgirls 2nd Encore (295 entrants)
In addition, Evo will host the first offline Doubles major for the MultiVersus open beta. At this event, pairs like Tyler “mirrorman” Morgan and DJ “RoseJ” A., Tyrell “NAKAT” Coleman and James “VoiD” Makekau-Tyson, and Synume and Leviathan will compete for the title of MultiVersus’ first No. 1 team.
Meanwhile, a number of community-run side brackets will take place at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on Friday and Saturday. This includes 52 games, ranging from former Evo main events like Soulcalibur VI and Samurai Shodown to complete newcomers like Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl.
How to watch Evo 2022
Evo 2022 will feature a massive broadcast, with content on every Evo channel from the main Twitch stream down to the evo7 channel. Pools for multiple games will kick off at 10 a.m. PT on Friday, along with a series of panels, interviews and exhibitions on the primary Twitch channel. In addition, top eight of Skullgirls will start at 7 p.m. the same day.
On Saturday, the main stream will host the top eight for four different events. Mortal Kombat is up first at 10 a.m., followed by Melty Blood at 2 p.m., Granblue at 5 p.m. and Dragon Ball FighterZ at 5 p.m. In addition, viewers can catch top 32 of the MultiVersus bracket at 2:30 p.m., followed by the finals at 5 p.m. This broadcast will take place on both evo4 and the MultiVersus Twitch channel.
Finally, fans can watch top eight for the four games that cracked 1,000 entrants on Championship Sunday. It will start with King of Fighters at 10 a.m., followed by Tekken at 1:30 p.m., Street Fighter at 5 p.m. and Guilty Gear at 8 p.m.
Throughout the weekend, TeamSp00ky will stream many — but not all — of the Evo 2022 side events. The full side event line-up and stream schedule is available on the Vortex Gallery website.
