Sony and esports venture RTS jointly acquire EVO

Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC and RTS, an Endeavor’s esports business venture, announced today that they have acquired the assets and properties of the Evolution Championship Series, or EVO, from Triple Perfect, Inc., in a joint partnership.

Sony and RTS aqcuire EVO and resurrect the tournament

With this new partnership, the premier fighting game tournament will return with EVO Online 2021. The event will be free to enter across all platforms with tournaments running August 6-8 and 13-15. The roster of games include Tekken 7, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, and Guilty Gear -Strive-.

EVO Online 2021 will feature four competitive titles across four regions: North America, Europe, South America and Asia. Thanks to the open format, qualifying games will be streamed along with the top eight or four matches from each region.

Tony and Tom Cannon, co-founders of Evo, will still be closely involved as advisors through the new partnership.

“Tom and I are incredibly excited by the partnership with SIE and RTS,” said Tony Cannon. “Both companies bring a wealth of experience and share our passion for what makes the fighting game community so great. We are looking forward to working with them to launch Evo to the next level while remaining true to our roots.”

Origins of the partnership

In a statement on Twitter, the Cannon brothers said that the partnership was born from a need for an experienced entity that respected the Fighting Game Community. They also addressed last year’s tournament cancellation. The brothers went on to note that they have precautions in place to make sure no harassment or abuse will take place within EVO or its future events.

EVO Online was cancelled last year due to the constraints of the pandemic and the removal of Joey Cuellar, EVO co-founder and president, from the company after allegations from his past of inappropriate behavior towards teenage boys surfaced.

After the scandal, many companies like Capcom and Bandai Namco–makers of Street Fighter V and Tekken 7–pulled out of the event. But, the new partnership has brought many of the former companies and developers back into the fold to continue the global grassroots competitive event.