EVO 2018 is just around the corner, but before the biggest fighting game event of the year has even begin, another exciting fighting tournament will be taking place next year. Making a comeback in 2019, EVO Japan will once again be open for competitors to take part in.

EVO JAPAN is back! #EVOJapan2019 will be taking place in the city of Fukuoka, Japan from February 15 – 17, 2019. More details at #EVO2018 in August. We hope to see you there! pic.twitter.com/4cJKLuJZty

— EVO (@EVO) July 7, 2018

The significance of EVO is similar to that of the World Cup. The best players from various fighting games come together to see who the best in the world is. As the years have gone by, the competition has become steeper, and the venue for EVO has gotten grander. It has gotten so big that the Mandalay Bay Arena has been rented out multiple years in a row to show the finals. Then, EVO Japan happened.

EVO Japan is the biggest general fighting game tournament outside of EVO, and according to a press release, the first ever Japanese iteration had over 13,000 attendees at the event, and over 10,000,000 unique viewers tuned in to see all of the exciting fighting game action. With games such as Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, Guilty Gear, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and BlazBlue being played at the event, its no wonder that it garnered so much attention.

It hasn’t been all easy, however. It was revealed that the tournament series actually had a net loss during its debut. This was mainly attributed to the fact that every competitor was granted free entrance to every game, attendees were able to watch the games being played for free up until the finals, venue decisions, and a few other things. With its inaugural year out of the way, some of the kinks in the tournament series will surely be fixed, and EVO Japan 2019 might very well shape up to be the premiere tournament that its sister tournament has grown to be.

EVO Japan will be taking place February 15-17, 2019 and will be hosted in Fukuoka, Japan. Further details about the Japanese tournament will be revealed at EVO 2018, which will take place in Las Vegas