The wrestling gaming community was shocked yesterday afternoon when the return of the Evo tournament series was announced. Not only had the silence been broken about what’s left for the long-running fighting game competition, but we also learned that Sony Interactive Entertainment and RTS had jointly acquired the organization.
Of course, this has raised a lot of questions from struggling gamers, especially one wondering about the future of games not found on Sony consoles such as Super Smash Bros Ultimate. After the announcement, Nintendo released a statement about it and, from the sound, Smash at Evo still doesn’t look like a lock.
Speaking to IGN, a Nintendo spokesman said the company has enjoyed its time at past Evo events and wishes the tournament organizers good luck. “We will continue to evaluate Evo,” Nintendo said, as they looked ahead to opportunities for Super Smash Bros.’s offline and online tournaments.
The Super Smash Bros. series has been officially represented in 10 different Evo events. Starting with Super Smash Bros. Melee in 2007, we would continue to see Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. a handful of exceptions.
Between 2010 and 2012, Super Smash Bros. would be absent from the post-Evo 2009 event, where a Brawl tournament was held, but was not part of the tournament’s official lineup. Smash came back strong in 2013, however, where Melee was added to the record through a donation campaign and a campaign to select the final title for the event.
Interestingly, even though Sony has acquired Evo, the event organizers remain open and can work with games that don’t show up on PlayStation consoles. Mark “MarkMan” Julio, Evo’s head of business development, reassured fans on Twitter yesterday that console exclusivity shouldn’t be an issue as much as fans initially feared.
“It’s also very important to keep in mind. @EVO remains open to all platforms,” Julio wrote. “The PlayStation and RTS teams allow us to continue working with our community to support fighting games.”
Evo already proves that this claim is true with the official formation of the upcoming Evo Online which includes several games that allow gamers to play on PC and PlayStation consoles. Although the tournament organization seems open to having Super Smash Bros. at a future event, Nintendo’s initial statement feels less certain that this will come to fruition.
As it stands now, it’s likely that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate does not consider Evo because of its approximate online experience. Once we start seeing the return to offline tournaments, the question about Smash’s Evo status will be much more relevant.
The next Evo Online is scheduled to take place over two weekends: August 6-8 and 13-15 and admission will be free. Street Fighter 5 Season 5, Tekken 7, Mortal Kombat 11 and Guilty Gear Strive will appear in the official lineup and will have open format tournaments.