The fighting game community continues to blaze new trails. With the biggest event to date, let's talk about Evolution Fighting Championship, also known as Evo.
Evo is officially the biggest fighting game tournament in the world, but that's not the only record it's breaking. While Evo 2023 totaled 9.221 unique entrants, Evo 2024 broke into the 10.000 range.
With this, it is offically the first esports event and video game tournament reaching over 10.000 unique competitors, making it the largest in history to date. While there's definitely plenty of large esports events, none had as many entrants as Evo 2024: 10.224 players.
Evo by the numbers
It's an incredible milestone for Evo, so let's break it down further. As you can see in the image above, mainly Tekken 8 and Street Fighter VI drive the enormous number of entrants to the event. For a game that just debuted, Tekken 8 broke the record.
While SF6 is king, Guilty Gear Strive is holding up really well, considering it has been out for a few years now. The most unique game on the roster is a throwback from the past: Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. Evo also features community-organized side events for many older titles, so you can show off in your favorite game too.
For a more detailed breakdown, check out the article from Evo.
When did Evo start? History of Evo
Evo's history goes all the way back to 1996, to much more "grassroots" origins of a local event with little publicity. Back then (👴), there was no streaming, esports was barely in its early stages if at all, and no sponsorships like we have today. No pro players.
40 players got together in 1996 in San Diego, playing Street Fighter II Turbo and Street Fighter Alpha 2. The event originally was called "Battle of the Bay," intended to settle rivalries between regions. Back then, the fighting game community was very "regional." Since there was no online play, competitors staked everything on their local competition. Best players would emerge in particular parts of the US.
Founders Tom Cannon and Tony Cannon (who are currently at Riot Games), Joey Cuellar, and Seth Killian next hosted the B4 Championships in 2000 in Folsom, California, at a local arcade. Quite packed, as many popular FGC events tend to happen. B5 followed up next year, and brought over Japanese players for the first time. Of course, they dominated, but this also marked it as the only US event to feature overseas competitors.
Around that time, arcades in the US began closing and going out of business. But in 2002, the event known as Evolution was born, meant to preserve the spirit of the arcades. The structure of FGC events as we know them today, where all the finals and Top 8s take place on Sunday, also originated there, as the organizers desired a show-like aspect to the event as well.
In 2003, the attendance increased to over 300, making it the largest fighting game event to date. A switch to consoles was inevitable. In 2005, the tournament moved to Las Vegas for the first time.
These days, Evo grew into an international symbol as a "world championship" for fighting games, and it has spawned online events, leagues, and international versions, such as Evo Japan.
