The largest fighting game competition in the world, EVO Championship Series, has just been purchased by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Newly-formed eSports organization RTS joins Sony in the acquisition of EVO. "Fighting games have been a vital part of PlayStation's legacy and our community since the very beginning, and we've been thrilled to partner with Evo over the years," said Sony's vice president of competitive gaming, Steven Roberts. "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."
■ EVO Online Kicks off in August 2021
With the support of world-class publishers, Evo is returning this year as Evo Online, a fully online competition taking place August 6 – 8 and 13-15. Entry will be free, and players in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America* will be able to compete in BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment’s Tekken 7, Capcom’s Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, Warner Bros. Games’ Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, and Arc System Works’ Guilty Gear -Strive- in an open format. The online qualifiers will be livestreamed for fans, and more details will be shared in the coming weeks on evo.gg.
Our collective team is laser-focused on one mission: preserving the authenticity of Evo for the fighting game community and finding creative ways, alongside our fans, to grow the tournament and make its events and broadcasts more fun, engaging and accessible than ever. At its core, Evo will remain what it has always been: an open-format competition that gives fighting game fans from different countries a chance to connect, test their skills, and forge new friendships.
■ A New Chapter in our Esports Journey
For PlayStation, today’s announcement marks an exciting step in our journey to foster the growth of the fighting game community and esports, and support competitive gamers widely on our consoles. Fighting games are hugely popular on PlayStation consoles, with gamers logging more than 1.1 billion gameplay hours in 2020 alone. We’re committed to breaking down the barriers for gamers to compete at all levels and providing a best-in-class, global platform for them to showcase their skills and passion.
We also want to voice our support for Evo's message today about creating a safe and inclusive environment for players. At PlayStation, we’ve always made that our highest priority. As a collective team, we’ll work closely together to ensure future Evo events are safe and welcoming for the entire community.
We’ll have much more to share about what’s coming for Evo 2021 in the coming weeks and months. Read more at SIE.blog.