EVO 2016 looks to be a bombastic event with nine different video games set to grace the Las Vegas Convention Center this summer. The popular fighting video game tournament’s organizer, Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar, announced the official lineup on Jan. 26 via live stream.
Traditionally, the annual EVO tournament features several different video games in the official lineup, with some of those going on to have their final matches on Sunday as something of a main event. Those games not included in the “official” lineup - including the likes of, say, Catherine - often have side tournaments organized by players or publishers and sometimes have their very own non-EVO streams.
In the past, the tournament’s been held in a hotel ballroom, so this year’s move to the Las Vegas Convention Center is a major step up in terms of production. Additionally, the Sunday finals of five games - Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mortal Kombat X, Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 - will be held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
One somewhat surprising inclusion in the tournament’s lineup is the Pokémon-based fighting game Pokkén Tournament. The game released in Japanese arcades back in the summer of 2015, and is set to see a worldwide release this March. But the biggest news here is likely the complete replacement of Street Fighter IV’s latest incarnation with Street Fighter V given that there's two versions of Smash present.
“Street Fighter V is a brand-new game and a vast majority of people are playing it,” said event organizer Cuellar in response to a question from Shoryuken about the replacement. “Street Fighter IV has had an incredible run of seven years, and we hope people continue to play this game, but for this year Evo will be running Street Fighter V only.”
Here’s the full lineup for EVO 2016:
- Street Fighter V
- Super Smash Bros. Melee
- Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
- Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-
- Mortal Kombat X
- Pokkén Tournament
- Killer Instinct
- Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
- Tekken 7: Fated Retribution
EVO 2016 is set to occur July 15-17 in Las Vegas.
Source: Shoryuken