The Evolution Champion Series will be returning to its usual home at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas this summer, from August 5-7. This will be the first EVO tournament since the Sony acquisition last year. The official lineup of games to be played at EVO 2022 has finally been announced, and there are some returning fan favourites, a host of new titles, and one noticeable exception.
It has been known for a while that Super Smash Bros wouldn’t be appearing at EVO 2022 after the EVO Twitter account put out a statement explaining that Nintendo has chosen “not to continue its legacy” at the tournament this year. But now the fighting game has released its lineup, it’s been made official. There are many titles that players will be glad to see at EVO 2022, however.
New fighting game The King of Fighter XV has been made the “main title” of EVO 2022. The other games appearing for the first time include Granblue Fantasy: Versus, Guilty Gear: Strive, Melty Blood: Type Lumina, and Skullgirls 2nd Encore. The games that have appeared before and will be returning for EVO 2022 are Dragon Ball FighterZ, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, and Tekken 7.
The lineup was revealed in a stream from the competition’s official Twitch channel. With the backing of a juggernaut like Sony, it isn’t a surprise to see a bolstered roster of new and legacy fighting games appearing for this year’s EVO. There hasn’t been an official announcement why Nintendo decided to pull out of the tournament this year, but it does align with Sony’s acquisition of EVO.
Registration for Evo 2022 is NOW OPEN!
Head to https://t.co/WgXv1e2fEK and register now!
We can’t wait to see you all offline and in-person August 5-7 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas!
Thank you to our special guests and viewers who joined us for the Evo 2022 lineup reveal show! pic.twitter.com/qiJwz2eGwL
— EVO (@EVO) March 9, 2022
EVO 2022 marks the first time the competition has taken place since 2019. In 2020, it was cancelled after EVO’s president at the time, Joey Cuellar, had sexual misconduct allegations levelled against him. While EVO 2021 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.