News

Published on August 2nd, 2018 | by thec0re3

Prepare For EVO 2018: Schedule, Announcements, And More!!

Fighting game news has been pretty sparse this week and for good reason…Evolution 2018 will soon be upon us. Starting this Friday on August 3rd, the biggest global fighting game competition will begin with over 1,000+ participants flooding the Mandalay Bay Center in Las Vegas. Nevada!

While competition is certainly the focal point of this momentous occasion, Evo has also become an event for breaking news and unreleased fighting game showcases. With so much happening this weekend, some of which will take place on a live stream, it is pretty easy to miss out so we have put together a list of information to help you navigate this experience to your own liking.

Main Events

This year, 8 games were chosen to be the main event for Evo which means the following games will have continuous airtime during this weekend:

Street Fighter V
Dragon Ball FighterZ
Tekken 7
Super Smash Bros. Melee

Guilty Gear Xrd: Rev 2
Super Smash Bros. Wii U
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
Injustice 2

Side Events

Despite the main games being featured at EVO, this event has always been a place that embraces all fighting games and even a few versus games as well. In the past few years, EVO has taken more of an active role making sure these developer/community-run events have some dedicated some airtime and as a result, will have a few main streams that will consist of new, classic, and maybe even unreleased titles!! So far we have confirmed a few titles that will be apart of live side event streams:

Soul Calibur VI
Fighting EX Layer
Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite
Dead Or Alive 5: Last Round
Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late[st](AnimEVO Event)
The King Of Fighter XIV(AnimEVO Event)
BlazBlue: Central Fiction(AnimEVO Event)
Koihime Enbu RyoRaiRai(AnimEVO Event)
Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code(AnimEVO Event)

Sailor Moon S(AnimEVO Event)
Vampire Savior(AnimEVO Event)
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R(AnimEVO Event)
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax(AnimEVO Event)
Samurai Shodown II(AnimEVO Event)
Garou: Mark Of The Wolves(AnimEVO Event)
Gundam Versus(AnimEVO Event)
TMNT: Tournament Fighters(AnimEVO Event)
Samurai Shodown V Special(AnimEVO Event)

Akatsuki BlitzKampf(AnimEVO Event)
Hokuto No Ken(AnimEVO Event)
Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition(AnimEVO Event)
Arcana Heart 3: Love Max Six Stars!!!!!!(AnimEVO Event)
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars(AnimEVO Event)
Aquapazza: Aquaplus Dream Match(AnimEVO Event)
Yatagarasu: Attack On Cataclysm (AnimEVO Event)

Main Event Schedule

The official live stream schedule for EVO has been released. You can click the pic below to see the full details for each day. We will be noting a few side tournament game schedules below that have already been confirmed. Many of the games will be on twitch.tv with the exception of a few channels like Capcom Fighters which will be a simulcast that includes youtube and facebook live.

An alternative schedule that includes global time zones created by AceKingOffSuit can be found here

*Game times and streams are subject to change

Confirmed Side Tournament Schedule

Hokuto No Ken Friday @ 5pm on /Evo 7

Sailor Moon S Friday @ 6pm on /Evo 7

Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite Friday @ 7pm on /Evo7

The King Of Fighters XIV Saturday @ 10am on /Evo 7

Under Night In-Birth EXE : Late[st] Saturday @ 4pm on /Evo2

Samurai Shodown Saturday @ 4:30pm on /Evo2

Fighting EX Layer Saturday @ 6pm on /Evo7

Dead Or Alive 5 Last Round @ 8pm on /Evo7

The Jump Off

The Jump Off was first introduced during EVO 2017 last year and is making its official return! It involves a plethora of EVO commentators who will be jumping to different streams periodically as they give you the full scope of this year’s festivities with some insightful analysis in between.

Side Tournament Streams

The side tournament stream coverage on EVO’s mainstream will be finals matches and will only showcase the titles above. Lucky for us, AnimEVO, a long time organizer for fighting game side tournaments, will be streaming all of their tournaments and also have a schedule available provided by our schedule lord and savior AceKingOffSuit Click the pictures below to see the full details.

*Game times and schedules are subject to change

Other side tournament/exhibition schedules

Some developers will also be on hand to show off their new titles as well hosting tournament and exhibition matches.

Soul Calibur VI Friday @ 10am on /soulcalibur
Top 8 @ 8:00pm

Dead Or Alive 6 Exhibition Friday @ 7pm on /DeadOrAliveGame

Announcements

As we have mentioned before, EVO has become a big event for fighting game announcements and we suspect that this year developers will be upping the ante for big surprises that you definitely do not want to miss out on.

We suspect many of the big reveals will come at the beginning and in between top 8 final events during the weekend but with side tournaments that involve new and unreleased games, we also suggest that you keep an eye out during these live streams as well.

Based on some rumblings and at least one confirmation, these are the announcements that we are anticipating at the event:

Pullum and Russo release date for Fighting EX Layer(confirmed)
Mortal Kombat XI reveal
Tekken 7 new characters and modes reveal
Dragon Ball FighterZ new DLC characters reveal
Guilty Gear Xrd Update with new characters reveal
BlazBlue Tag Battle new DLC characters reveal
Dead Or Alive 6 release date new characters reveal
Soul Calibur VI new characters reveal
Fighting EX Layer characters Sharon and Area reveal
Kill La Kill the Game: IF new trailer
Riot Games new fighting game reveal
Street Fighter V Season 3 Character G reveal
Final SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy character reveal(confirmed)

Sales

One of the more overlooked parts of this weekends celebration are the sales that happen as a result. Many fighting games and various peripherals will be discounted with several retailers participating for the occasion so we urge you to be on the lookout for a possible game or item you have been waiting to add to your collection.

Retailers we recommend you take a look at:

Find A Comfy Spot And Enjoy

With 3 non-stop days of fighting game competition, we recommend that you set-up a relaxing environment for your viewing pleasure. Watching this event on a nice big screen is highly recommended and you will certainly want to keep snacks around so you don’t miss a minute of the action. If this is your first time viewing EVO, then you are definitely in for a mind-blowing time full of down to the wire matches and unbelievable moments. Enjoy!!

Tags: Evolution 2018, Fighting Game Tournament

About the Author

thec0re3 Founder of Fighting Games Online and self proclaimed "entertainment techie", thec0re3 takes immense enjoyment out of merging his love for video games and technology to educate, create, and participate in something he has enjoyed for more years than he would ever admit to.