The Evolution Championship Series, better known as Evo, has returned with the announcement of Evo 2021 Online.
The organizing officials of Evo 2021 Online revealed via the official Twitter page for Evo the registration information and tournament schedule for the biggest event series of the fighting game community. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and following circumstances that led to an unforeseen cancellation of last year’s event, the format has changed, making the event something very different from the last time people were able to compete. Evo 2021 Online is a worldwide event allowing players to enter and represent different worldwide regions.
In line with a previous announcement this past Mach, there will be four main games in which entrants can compete. The titles include Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition, Tekken 7, Mortal Kombat 11: Ultimate, and Guilty Gear Strive. Guilty Gear Strive and MK11: Ultimate will only be available on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game while Street Fighter 5: Championship Edition can be played across PlayStation or PC. Tekken 7 will only be playable on PC for the tournament.
All events are currently listed to begin on August 6, though this may be subject to change in the near future considering Evo 2021 Online is scheduled to continue the following weekend of August 13–16. Each tournament appears to have a scheduled start time of 12 p.m. for regional times in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Europe.
Registration is free for these tournaments and will remain open through July 15, but some titles like Street Fighter 5 and Tekken 7 are split up into sub-regions as well. Head to the Evolution 21 Championship Series website for better details; and if you are planning to enter the tournament, be sure to find your specific area/region when you go to sign up to avoid problems.
On the website, Evo has announced offerings of up to $75,000 (USD) in prize pools, but there isn’t currently a breakdown of how the money will be split at the time of this writing. Sony also revealed this week the tie-in Evo Community Series’ PlayStation 4 Tournaments, which will feature an extended selection of fighting game events in July including popular gaming titles Dragon Ball FighterZ, Granblue Fantasy: Versus, Skullgirls 2nd Encore, Soul Calibur 6, and more.
This year marks the first time the Evolution Championship Series is going to be run by its new ownership / management, Sony and RTS. The company acquired the largest fighting game major in March after the ousting of former organizer Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar due to public allegations of sexual misconduct in 2020.
Will you be tuning in to the biggest fighting game tournament event of the year this summer? Let us know in the comments!
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