The Complete Evo 2023 Recap
While Evo 2023 might be over, the epic moments and lasting memories will live through us. Whether you joined us in person, on stream, or are checking out the event for the first time, we are glad to have you here to live it all again. Let’s guide you through Evo 2023’s competitions, announcements, and celebrations of the FGC.
Day 1:
We hit the ground running with the Evo 2023 Friday Showcase, launching with the exclusive premiere of UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II [Sys:Celes]. Then we went behind the scenes with developer panels for Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Guilty Gear -Strive-, Street Fighter 6, and TEKKEN 8. Indie titles got their time to shine throughout, with an exhibition match between dekillsage and SonicFox using Marie, Skullgirls 2nd Encore’s final DLC character for Season 1, and a first look at new Rivals 2 and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 reveals.
Among the community highlights, attendees witnessed the return of the Canon awards, granting the high honor to Tong Lee, Alex Jebailey, and Rick Thiher. We also gave Evo co-founder Seth Killian the stage to chat with two-time Capcom Cup Champion and the 2nd Place Street Fighter 6 Evo 2023 winner, MenaRD. Closing out the night, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Killer Instinct with a four-player exhibition with the best competitors throughout the title’s history. Concluding the KI festivities, the Xbox team announced massive updates, releasing later this fall alongside new Xbox Series X|S optimized releases of Killer Instinct.
We finished the first night of Evo 2023 strong with the final Evo competition for Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate before the arrival of the soon-to-be-released Mortal Kombat 1. The Top 6 players were all formidable challengers. Discover who earned the final Evo Championship for Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate!
Head to our complete Day 1 recap for videos and even more info!
Day 2:
The second day of Evo 2023 was the first full day of Top 6 tournaments! MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA, THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV, and DRAGON BALL FighterZ all received their champions. The Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising preview tournament also concluded and gave players a taste of what to expect from its full release on November 30, 2023.
SNK shared a slew of announcements, leading with Najd’s release date for THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV alongside the release window of Duo Lon. The rollback netcode update for Samurai Shodown will launch in September of 2023. THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIII Global Match will also be released this fall on November 16, 2023. The final announcement from SNK was another look at FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves!
Head to our complete Day 2 recap for videos and even more info!
Arena Finals:
We reached the pinnacle of hype during the Arena Finals! The Top 6 tournaments for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, TEKKEN 7, Guilty Gear -Strive-, and Street Fighter 6 brought the epic three-day event to an end. Whether you saw them in the arena live or are looking for a refresher, we’ve got every Top 6 ready for the re-watch.
On top of the phenomenal competition, we continued to share stellar announcements. Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising shared its release date alongside its various versions, including a free option, perfect for testing the game and checking out the new Grand Bruise Legends modes! The TEKKEN World Tour 2023 Finals kicks off with a Last Chance Qualifier from January 12-14, 2024, in the New Orleans Civic Center, Louisiana, US. We also got the reveal trailers for two new characters coming to TEKKEN 8, returning fighter Raven and newcomer Azucena.
NetherRealm Studios introduced Reptile, Ashrah, Havik, and the new Kameo Fighter Sareena to Mortal Kombat 1. Arc System Works unveiled the significant gameplay changes coming with Season 3 of Guilty Gear -Strive- with a reveal trailer for Johnny. Closing our developer announcements, Capcom shared an exciting look at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Street Fighter 6 collaboration, complete with the voice of Luke singing the iconic theme song with a live band playing the music.
We got to share some exciting news, too! Evo Japan 2024 takes place April 27-29, 2024, and Evo Las Vegas 2024 will return an extra week early on July 19-21, 2024. The Evo team was granted the key to the Las Vegas strip, and August 6th is officially Evo Day!
Head to our complete Arena Finals recap for videos and even more info!
And more!
There was so much that happened throughout Evo 2023. We wanted to share a few additional highlights!