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[cormack12]

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20260617211051/https://www.polygon.com/evo-2026-fewer-competitors/

Evo is historically the largest fighting game tournament in the world and it takes place each year in Las Vegas. Capcom, Bandai Namco, and other fighting game developers also use the show to make announcements or debut new characters for their games. As such, a dip in popularity like this is a bit concerning.

When the registration numbers were shared on June 12, Street Fighter 6 had the most participants with 2,414. That's significantly less than the 4,228 people who competed in the same game at Evo 2025. Tekken 8, Guilty Gear Strive, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves all saw similar declines. Rivals of Aether 2 was unaffected, having more entrants than last year.

This caused speculation over why the numbers dropped, and there are several potential reasons why this happened. Evo 2026 is taking place earlier than usual this year, in June rather than August. There are also more Evo-branded tournaments happening around the world than before. Evo Japan happened in May, and Evo France is slated for October.

 

[Generic]

Fighting games were ruined by giga autism, nowadays they are all about memorizing hitboxes and frames.

 

[lockdown2222]

Cost of living has also gone up, might be tough for some of these people to get there, too.

 

[begotten]

The drop off makes sense because if you're attending a big FGC event like EVO, people typically just enter every game, especially SF at least.

So if other games aren't flourishing (which is what it feels like to me observing a community I used to be more involved with) then all the numbers go down.

Like NRS fumbling MK1 was bad.
Current Tekken doesn't seem that hot.
GGS and DBFZ alongside it before, are games that have been out for awhile now and were always a rung below in entrants and interest.
Then you have Smash which has been gone for awhile now which hurts.

Feels like SF6 is the only thing holding up numbers and attention for now.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

Isn't Las Vegas really expensive now?

 

[Richard Packer]

There are so many EVOs now. The brand is diluted. Plus with the state of America right now, nobody wants to travel to America. Evo Japan had very healthy numbers and a lot of my friends chose to go there instead of EVO Vegas.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Combo Breaker is the new EVO.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Combo Breaker is the new EVO.

Esports World Cup is the most serious event because the most money is up for grabs by far. Combo Breaker is definitely the premier American event now tho.



This was so sick

 

[Cert.in.Death]

Vegas

Everybody is working their second jobs to get that Tifa DLC (or are readying their mods for when she releases).
Plus Tekken 8 being in the cannister doesn't help either.

 

[Nocty]

Cost of living has also gone up, might be tough for some of these people to get there, too.

understatement of the year right here tbh

my friend group, mostly mid 30's early 40's married couples, getting time to do stuff now is easier but them having money to do anything other than visit each others houses is getting blood from a stone. Like just about everyone I know is fucking broke as a joke. Last month I had to lend my best bud money to buy his kids food as he was short payday by 48 hours... it's rough out there. He has a decent paying job too, more so than me. Scary times

 

[Arsic]

SF6 declining in popularity can also be attributed to this. How are the player numbers compared to last year?

Time for SF7?

Capcom doesn't have another fighter where in the past they'd juggle SF and a versus title.

Marvel Tokkon looks like it could bring up a lot of people if it is done well.

Really though for me as a potential viewer, idgaf. I may catch a grand finals YT set of something but until virtua fighter 6 comes out I am sleep on all things FGC. Invincible Vs is a lot of fun but did not find a playerbase in the long term. That's what sucks about this whole fucking genre - if you aren't tekken MK or SF, then you're a discord fighter at best.

 

[NeverYouMind]

This was so sick

I am just happy spammin' Talim got the boot stick.

Invincible Vs is a lot of fun but did not find a playerbase in the long term. That's what sucks about this whole fucking genre - if you aren't tekken MK or SF, then you're a discord fighter at best.

They are dropping a giga update at the end of the month for Invincible VS. That is when I am going to get back to it. Things feel too early access to stick with at the moment.

 

[Richard Packer]

Esports World Cup is the most serious event because the most money is up for grabs by far. Combo Breaker is definitely the premier American event now tho.



This was so sick

EVO just feels so different now. No longer a grass roots event, and more of a convention. NeverYouMind is right that Combo Breaker is the new hard-core FGC event. That and CEO. I'm sure a lot of people would rather go to those then EVO at this point. EVO has priced out so many of the FGC. Registration went from $40 to $300. They deserve to be humbled.

The next EVO I go to will most likely be France or Morocco, it will be cheaper and I can treat it as a vacation as well.

 

[Richard Packer]

SF6 declining in popularity can also be attributed to this. How are the player numbers compared to last year?

Time for SF7?

Capcom doesn't have another fighter where in the past they'd juggle SF and a versus title.

Marvel Tokkon looks like it could bring up a lot of people if it is done well.

Really though for me as a potential viewer, idgaf. I may catch a grand finals YT set of something but until virtua fighter 6 comes out I am sleep on all things FGC. Invincible Vs is a lot of fun but did not find a playerbase in the long term. That's what sucks about this whole fucking genre - if you aren't tekken MK or SF, then you're a discord fighter at best.

SF6 is growing. Tifa comes out next year and they have stated they want a 10 year life span for it.

 

[Arsic]

SF6 is growing. Tifa comes out next year and they have stated they want a 10 year life span for it.

Depressing for me.

I love SF but 6 is my least played by a large margin. Even 5 I spent more time with. 4 I had thousands of hours.

I wonder if Capcom would ever consider a remake of SF4 on modern platforms….

 

[NeverYouMind]

Depressing for me.

I love SF but 6 is my least played by a large margin. Even 5 I spent more time with. 4 I had thousands of hours.

I wonder if Capcom would ever consider a remake of SF4 on modern platforms….

If they could bring some semblance of balance to Omega versions of characters I would be down.

 

[LyricalShrike]

I think elevated travel costs and the spread of EVO events are most to blame for the drop. Getting to the US is troublesome vs a direct flight to Japan or walking to the upcoming SG EVO.

Tekken being a dumpster fire can't help. Who wants the trouble of flying to Vegas just to play Tekken now? I'm happy to see RoA2 maintaining it's numbers. It's somehow become my most played fighting game these days. So easy to hop in and out with friends.

 

[TheChadOfGaming]

did they implement a shower and deodorant requirement?

 

[Richard Packer]

Depressing for me.

I love SF but 6 is my least played by a large margin. Even 5 I spent more time with. 4 I had thousands of hours.

I wonder if Capcom would ever consider a remake of SF4 on modern platforms….

I'm not a fan of SF6 either. Rumors are Capcom is making CVS3 so that's something to look forward too.

SF4 will definitely have a re-release with rollback at some point. Hopefully soon.

 

[NeverYouMind]

I'm happy to see RoA2 maintaining it's numbers. It's somehow become my most played fighting game these days.

 

[GateofD]

Fighting games were ruined by giga autism, nowadays they are all about memorizing hitboxes and frames.

And baby auto combos

 

[kevboard]

adding "modern controls" to Street Fighter was the biggest mistake Capcom did. completely ruins the game on a competitive level

 

[MiguelItUp]

Isn't Las Vegas really expensive now?

Cost of living has also gone up, might be tough for some of these people to get there, too.

I mean, I planned on going at one point, and at the time flying and hotel wasn't TOO bad. But it was definitely more across the board than it used to be. Things have gotten way out of hand for too many.

understatement of the year right here tbh

my friend group, mostly mid 30's early 40's married couples, getting time to do stuff now is easier but them having money to do anything other than visit each others houses is getting blood from a stone. Like just about everyone I know is fucking broke as a joke. Last month I had to lend my best bud money to buy his kids food as he was short payday by 48 hours... it's rough out there. He has a decent paying job too, more so than me. Scary times

It's insane, truly.

I'm currently in-between jobs and it's been a nightmare. I'm big into music and I've been frequenting live shows/concerts for about 25 years, and it's gotten crazy. Fees would of course fluctuate based on the venue. Some dingy bars that would be cheap ($7-$10), others big mainstream venues that would be more expensive ($20-$30). Then merch pricing would fluctuate as a result of the venue because of merch cuts, etc. I feel so bad for kids these days, especially ones working part time jobs that don't pay enough for them to really enjoy or do anything. Dingy bar shows have roughly stayed about the same, especially local ones. But big mainstream venue shows start at $50-$60+ now, it's insane. Then a tshirt is like $35-$40, and a hoodie is typically $60.

These kids can't afford that.

 

[March Climber]

Cost of living has also gone up, might be tough for some of these people to get there, too.

This 100%. Long story short it is far too expensive to fly to Vegas as a newcomer for an FGC tourney… for a chance to win.

It's going to happen at regular conventions too.

It's sad because EVO has been attempting to expand so that the exact opposite can happen (due to best-in-the-world hidden talents being found at places where they can't afford these trips), however it's all just bad timing.

 

[nikos]

Everything is expensive + SF6 is the worst mainline Street Fighter game.

 

[MagnesD3]

Evo isnt special with the other versions of it.

 

[March Climber]

Everything is expensive + SF6 is the worst mainline Street Fighter game.

*Conveniently forgets SF5 that needed Sony funding from the start with a small roster and took multiple years to save*

 

[nikos]

*Conveniently forgets SF5 that needed Sony funding from the start with a small roster and took multiple years to save*

I didn't like SFV either.

 

[Three]

There are also more Evo-branded tournaments happening around the world than before. Evo Japan happened in May, and Evo France is slated for October.

There is your answer. Evo is still the biggest FGC event but it's just in more places now so people go to the most convenient one for them and not all of them.