With the end of the fighting game tournament season approaching, the team behind the Evolution Championship Series is ready to reveal the dates for one of next year’s indisputably immense competitive fighting game events. EVO 2020 will be returning to Las Vegas, Nevada at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and will run from July 31st to August 2nd.
The new trailer for next summer’s EVO mega-tournament shows off many memorable moments from last year’s events, including the dramatic, emotional rivalry between Dominique “Sonic Fox” McLean and Kishida “Go1” Goichi in Dragonball FighterZ, along with highlights from major perennial titles like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Tekken 7 and more.
Although the trailer for EVO 2020 showcases many main event games from last year’s tournament events, it does not mean that these games are guaranteed to make the official lineup for EVO 2020. An announcement on scheduling and events will likely follow early next year in a separate announcement. It’s likely that many games will return to the main stage, in particular Tekken 7 and Street Fighter V, especially if Bandai Namco and Capcom reveal new seasons for their competitive esports tours for those titles. EVO 2019 had some event upsets, with the inclusion of recently debuted games Soul Calibur VI, Samurai Shodown and Mortal Kombat 11 and most unexpectedly the replacement of Game Cube-era Super Smash Bros. Melee with anime fighter Under Night In-Birth Exe:late[st].
Last year at EVO event co-founder Tom Cannon confirmed the “worst-kept secret”–Riot Games is developing fighting game, along with nearly every other esports-friendly title, but it’s unclear whether there will be anything new to share on the League of Legends-themed fighter codenamed “Project L” by June 31st. After Riot’s 10th anniversary mega-announcement, the team at Project L declared that they were going dark, as the game is only in a pre-alpha stage.
EVO Japan 2020 is also slated for next year in January and may serve as an indicator for which games will make it to the main stage for EVO 2020 in Las Vegas. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate reigns as the event’s main title. EVO Japan 2020 will also feature BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Soul Calibur VI, Tekken 7, and Samurai Shodown. Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition has not been announced as a main event game.