The Evolution Championship Series, the world’s biggest fighting game event, reported 3.7 million viewers earlier this year.
Evo returned to Las Vegas on Aug. 5-7, making it the first in-person Evo since 2019. Featuring top players competing in tournaments for the biggest fighting games, their LAN event was a major success in the viewership department; there were over 18,000 attendees at this year’s Evo in Las Vegas as well as a total 3.7 million viewers watching the stream.
“I’m proud of the experience the combined teams from Evo, Sony Interactive Entertainment, RTS, and the incredible event staff delivered at Evo 2022. It was a challenge to execute a live event at this scale in the new, not-quite-post-COVID environment, but we committed ourselves to meeting our community’s expectations and delivered a great event,” said Rick Thiher, Evo’s general manager.
2022’s event was Evo’s chance to “re-establish” the tournament while staying true to its roots in the FGC. This is something that Thiher felt the team achieved.
Evo had 43 exhibitors, 93 artists and vendors, and a huge free-play arcade with over 120 machines. This was the first year Evo brought a free play area to Evo. The biggest draw, however, was the prestigious tournaments for TEKKEN 7, Guilty Gear -Strive-, and Street Fighter 5. Over 7,000 competitors came to compete from 63 countries.
The fighting games at Evo 2022 with the most viewers
In an official press release, Evo announced the most-viewed tournaments at the event.
- Street Fighter V: 250K
- TEKKEN 7: 205.3K
- Guilty Gear -Strive-: 185.7K
- The King of Fighters XV: 124.7K
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIsUfU-qZoo
What’s next for Evo
The tournament organizers are already looking ahead after a successful Evo 2022. RTS CEO Stuart Saw said the company’s first Evo was a “special weekend” thanks to the turnout and response from the fighting game community. But they also learned a lot of valuable lessons, added Saw.
A lot of these lessons will be applied to Evo Japan. This event will be coming to Tokyo on March 31 through April 2 in 2023. It will take place at the Tokyo Big Sight, featuring tournaments for Guilty Gear -Strive-, The King of Fighters XV, Street Fighter V, and TEKKEN 7. More games and registration details will be announced in the next few months.
