The Evolution Championship Series has announced its official lineup of tournaments for the main stage at EVO 2025. Home of the biggest fighting game event in the world, Evo is an annual series of tournaments that attract thousands of competitors.
Every year, fans gather to watch the best players battle it out, and celebrate exciting content reveals together. Unlike most esports events, any gamer attending Evo can enter tournaments regardless of experience or reputation. As a result, Evo tournaments are always exciting and unpredictable.
Unsurprisingly, the most popular fighting game franchises return to the stage. Street Fighter 6 celebrates its third year, now featuring new fighters Terry and Mai from the Fatal Fury series. Mortal Kombat 1 returns for a second time, with the Khaos Reigns expansion bringing back old fan favourites. Similarly, Tekken 8 also returns for its second main tournament, now featuring the iconic Heihachi Mishima, as well as Final Fantasy XVI protagonist Clive Rosfield.
Japanese developer and publisher Arc System Works continues carving its space for their fast and flashy “Anime Fighters.” Guilty Gear – Strive reaches its fourth year at Evo, thanks to its massive surge in popularity. On the contrary, both Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising and Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes return for their second years thanks to a small yet loyal fanbase.
As a retro throwback, Evo is bringing Marvel VS Capcom 2 to the main stage this year. Marking the 25th anniversary of the legendary title, MvC2 has undoubtedly earned some time in the spotlight. However, this year’s biggest curveball is Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, the first entry in this franchise since 1999! Releasing in April 2025, gamers will only have a few months to master this title before Evo.
New to 2025, the Evo extended lineup features several smaller fighting game tournaments hosted in smaller arenas. Five games have been announced for the extended lineup, with more announcements planned next month. Announced games include:
- Rivals of Aether II
- Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O
- The King of Fighters XV
- BlazBlue CentralFiction
- Killer Instinct
Finally, Evo announced several changes to the event, such as a bigger arena and the return of the top 8 format. The team provided a brief recap of all the announcements at the end of their stream.
Evo will commence over August 1st-3rd 2025 in Las Vegas, USA. Every tournament will be live-streamed on Evo’s Twitch page
About the Author
Wil Bain
he/him
Wil plays every type of game (because he cannot sit still), but tends to favour frantic action and epic RPG's. Outside of gaming, you can find him at the local swimming pool, or visiting the exciting sights of suburban Melbourne.
