Sony Just Bought Evo: Here's Why That's A Huge Deal
If you're even just a casual fan of fighting games, there's a pretty good chance you've heard of Evo. There's no lack of fighting game tournaments that happen every year, but Evo is by far the largest, pulling in tens of thousands of viewers from around and hosting brackets for multiple fighting games. Today, Sony announced that it has acquired Evo through a joint partnership with a new company called RTS.
This is a pretty big deal for the esports scene, but it doesn't seem like a whole lot is going to change about the tournament itself. Sony says that Evo co-founders Tom and Tony Cannon will "remain closely involved in an advisory role to ensure Evo continues to service the fighting game community and support its vibrant growth." The company also says that it will look to improve Evo's "global reach, scale and fan engagement."
Sony also used this announcement to confirm the dates for Evo 2021, which will again be happening online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Evo Online 2021 will be taking place August 6th-8th and 13th-15th. The games on tap for Evo Online 2021 are Tekken 7, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, and Guilty Gear Strive. Sony also says that online qualifiers will be live streamed, but we'll have to wait for more word on when that'll be happening.
Eagle-eyed readers will notice that there aren't any Super Smash Bros. games in the lineup for Evo 2021. That doesn't seem to be some kind sinister Sony plot to reduce the visibility of Nintendo games, as Melee was dropped from the tournament in 2019 and Super Smash Bros Ultimate isn't really ideal for an online tournament given the various lag and latency problems with Nintendo Switch Online.
Sony, for its part, says that it will focus on "preserving the authenticity" of Evo and keeping the tournament "an open-formant competition," so once Evo events are held in-person again, we can probably expect the return of Super Smash Bros and other fighting games. For now, though, we'll see what Sony does with Evo in August, so we'll be keeping an ear to the ground for more details.