FGC reacts to Evo 2023 lineup and schedule reveal
The Evolution Championship Series is back, and it’s coming with eight confirmed fighting games.
Evo 2023 will be held at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas, Nevada just like last year. It will take place from August 4 to August 6. But what games are being featured this year?
Evo 2023 lineup
The following games are featured in the Evo 2023 lineup:
- Street Fighter 6
- Guilty Gear Strive
- Dragon Ball FighterZ
- Tekken 7
- The King of Fighters 15
- Melty Blood: Type Lumina
- Mortal Kombat 11: Ultimate
- Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
You’ve probably noticed that Super Smash Bros. Melee and Ultimate are both missing. Nintendo pulled the games out of previous Evo tournaments, so this doesn’t come as a big surprise, especially after all the drama with Panda Global and Nintendo in the Smash community last year. MultiVersus and other Smash-like games are also not present on the current schedule.
Street Fighter 6 is making its debut at Evo 2023. Street Fighter 5 has been on the lineup for the last few years but is being replaced with Street Fighter 6, which comes out this summer. The Capcom Cup has a massive $2 million prize pool, so it’s definitely going to be a big year for Street Fighter 6 players between this news and Evo.
Players can register to compete by signing up here. Tickets are also available for those that want to watch, play side games, and check out vendors. Purchase arena tickets here.
FGC shares thoughts on Evo 2023
The lineup has been largely applauded by the FGC, with fans especially excited to see Melty Blood and the new Street Fighter. Marvel vs. Capcom had some fans puzzled. But gamers were largely unsure how they feel about the schedule itself.
Invested FGC members saw that Evo 2023 plans to only have a prize pool payout for the top six instead of a top eight, which is a lot different than how most fighting game tournaments are set up. This had many fans frustrated, with some saying they missed the early days of Evo. Others added that Evo was most likely trying to be mindful of time since they didn’t want players at the venue all night but some put the blame on Evo for running too many ads.
“Cut down on some of them ridiculous ad times. It was completely out of control last year — that was your problem,” one Evo fan said.
While Evo is sure to be hype, a lot of fans felt that Evo had “sold out” and it didn’t have the same magic it did back in the grassroots days. For some players, Evo feels too flashy, and the amount of ads has taken away from experience. This is, however, the price that FGC games must pay as they become more mainstream.
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