Evolution Championship Series

Evolution Championship Series

Evolution Championship Series logo
Formerly Battle by the Bay
Sport Fighting games
Founded 1996
Founder Tom "inkblot" Cannon, Tony "Ponder" Cannon, Joey "MrWizard" Cuellar, Seth Killian
Country United States
Most recent champion(s)
Most titles Justin Wong (8)
Qualification None (Open)
Official website Evo Championship Series

The Evolution Championship Series (EVO or Evo) is an annual esports event that focuses exclusively on fighting games. The tournament is a completely open tournament and uses the double elimination format.[1] As with Super Battle Opera, contestants will travel from all over the world to participate, most notably from Japan. The first Evolution was originally held as a Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Street Fighter Alpha 2 tournament called the Battle by the Bay. It changed its name to the Evo in 2002. Every successive tournament has seen an increase of attendees. It has been held at various venues across the Las Vegas Valley since 2005.

History

Evo was founded by Tom Cannon, also known for his work on Shoryuken.com, a fighting game website. The tournament started as "Battle by the Bay", a 40-man Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Street Fighter Alpha 2 tournament in 1996 in Sunnyvale, California eventually moving to its recurring venue in the Las Vegas Valley.[2] The event changed its name to Evo in 2002. Over time, the tournament grew, recording over one thousand participants in 2009.[3]

Originally the tournament used arcade cabinets, but in 2004 the decision was made to move all games over to their console versions, to no small amount of controversy.[4] During the transition to games on the seventh generation consoles, most games were played on a PlayStation 3,[5] though Evo 2014 ran most games on the Xbox 360.[6] Aside from the official tournaments, there is also a "BYOC" (bring your own console) area in which many different games are played and side tournaments are held.

2002

2003

2004

Evo 2004 took place at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in Southern California from July 29 to August 1. The tournament amassed approximately 700 competitors from over 30 countries to compete in over nine different games.[4] The games featured included Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution, Guilty Gear XX, Soul Calibur II, Tekken 4, and Tekken Tag Tournament.[8][9]

Controversially, Evo 2004 used home consoles for most of their tournament games instead of arcade cabinets, with the only exception being 3rd Strike which used the more traditional arcade cabinets. The reason for this change was attributed to the various software and hardware limitations of arcade cabinets at the time.[4]

Evo 2004 was also the birthplace of "Evo Moment #37", in which during the Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike tournament, Daigo Umehara (playing as Ken), while facing Justin Wong (using Chun-Li), was successfully able to parry one of Chun-Li’s super moves while having very little health left and then counter with his own, winning the round and eventually the match as a result.[10]

Although overlooked, Evo 2004's Soul Calibur II tournament was the birthplace of the collusion rule which was used in other major fighting game tournaments to this day.[11]

2005

2005 was the first year Evo was held at the Green Valley Ranch casino and hotel in Las Vegas.

2006

Evo 2006 took place at the Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino in Las Vegas. 2006 was the first year that Capcom gave its official, public support of the Evolution tournaments. Traditionally, Evo has only included fighting games, but in 2006 it included Mario Kart DS in its lineup.[12]

2007

Evo 2007, officially called Evo World 2007, took place from July 17 to July 19 at the Green Valley Ranch, in Las Vegas. Throughout the year there were several other tournaments held throughout the US bearing the Evo name. The game roster had eight games, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Virtua Fighter 5, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Street Fighter II Turbo, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, Guilty Gear XX Λ Core, and Super Smash Bros. Melee.

2008

Evo 2008 took place at the Tropicana Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. from August 8 to August 10.[13] The tournament would feature six games within its official roster: Capcom vs. SNK 2, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2.[14] The Brawl tournament was widely criticized for its ruleset, which allowed items on and saw an relatively unknown player defeat Ken.[15]

Evo 2008 also allowed attendees a preview of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.

2009

Evo 2009 took place on July 17 to July 19.[17] Held at the Rio Convention Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada, the tournament itself would feature six game in its official roster: Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Street Fighter IV.[18] Notably, the newly released Street Fighter IV increased Evo attendance by a considerable margin, and the tournament for it alone boasted more 1000 participants, almost three times that of the tournaments for the other games.[19]

2010

Evo 2010, held at Caesars Palace had a massive number of competitors, with Super Street Fighter IV amassing approximately 1,800 players to duel for a $20,000 guaranteed prize pot. Most notable in this EVO was Justin Wong cementing his dominance in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 in its proverbial swan song, defeating the champion of the previous year, Sanford Kelly. Also notable was Wong failing to make the top 8 in Super Street Fighter IV, falling victim first to Vance "Vangief" Wu, and soon after to Taiwanese player Bruce "GamerBee" Hsiang. Melty Blood: Actress Again was included after a poll on Shoryuken.com to decide on the final game of the tournament, beating out Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Soulcalibur IV, and The King of Fighters XII.[22] BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger was to be included, but after a majority of the community moved on to BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, the decision was made to replace it with Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Also notable was G4's limited coverage of the event, even offering X-Play host Adam Sessler for commentary of the Super Street Fighter IV finals.[23]

2011

Street Fighter cosplayers at Evo 2011

For Evo 2011, a tournament season was announced in which players could earn ranking points at one of eight tournaments. It took place at the Rio Las Vegas from July 29 to July 31, utilizing a 55,000-square-foot (5,100 m2) ballroom. All 50 states of the U.S. were represented, as well as 44 additional countries.[26][27] On July 25, 2011, it was announced that PlayStation Home users could watch a live stream of the tournament.[28] Evo 2011 was the most viewed event in its history, its livestream watched by over 2 million unique viewers on UStream over the course of the event.[29]

In attendance was Street Fighter series producer Ono Yoshinori, who announced a free balance patch for Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition.[30] Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada was also on hand to show new mechanics for Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Soulcalibur V.[31][32] Other unreleased games shown were Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, King of Fighters XIII, Skullgirls and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition. A Skullgirls side tournament was held in which the winner received a one-of-a-kind Skullgirls-themed arcade stick.[33][34] Media outlets G4, GameSpot and Destructoid were all present to cover the event.[33][35]

A notable occurrence in the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournament was the success of an eight-year-old named Noah Solis, whose team included Hulk, Sentinel and Albert Wesker. Solis's performance included a perfect round in less than ten seconds. Solis was eventually eliminated by Mortal Kombat finalist Chris G.[36] In an interview with Giant Bomb, Solis's father, Moises Solis, spoke of how he intends to support his son's success in fighting games, citing video games as one way alongside education to avoid falling into gang culture.[37]

2012

Evo 2012 took place July 6 to July 8, 2012, at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.[39] On January 3, Joey Cuellar announced that Evo 2012 would have 6 main tournament games, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Version 2012), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Mortal Kombat, Soulcalibur V, The King of Fighters XIII and Street Fighter X Tekken. The tournament series from the previous year returned, featuring seeding points for all six games in 17 events all across the world.[40]

2013

Evo 2013 was announced on December 2, 2012. It was held on July 12–14 at Paris Las Vegas.[42] On January 8, Joey Cuellar announced that EVO 2013 would have eight main tournament games, with the first seven revealed being Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Version 2012), Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter X Tekken (Version 2013), The King of Fighters XIII, and Persona 4 Arena. The eighth game was voted on by players via online donations, all proceeds of which went to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.[43] The eventual winner of the poll was Super Smash Bros. Melee with $94,683 raised for that game, while the total amount of donations was $225,744.[44] Nintendo of America initially sent a cease and desist letter to cancel the streaming of Melee matches, although after popular backlash a live stream was ultimately allowed to be carried out as planned.[45][46] On May 7, 2013 it was announced that Injustice: Gods Among Us would be a main tournament game, thus expanding the game roster from eight to nine.[47]

2014

Evo 2014 was announced on September 15, 2013. It was held on July 11–13, 2014 at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino[6] On February 6, 2014, Cuellar announced that Evo 2014 would include Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Injustice: Gods Among Us, The King of Fighters XIII, Killer Instinct, and BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma, while also mentioning that discussions were ongoing with Nintendo on the possible inclusion of Super Smash Bros. Melee.[49] Melee was eventually officially added to the roster with Nintendo's approval.[50][51] Tekken Tag Tournament 2 was also later added to the roster.[52]

2015

Evo 2015 took place on July 17–19, 2015 at the Bally's / Paris Las Vegas Casino.[54] On January 20, 2015, Cuellar announced that Evo 2015 would include Ultra Street Fighter IV, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat X, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Tekken 7.[55]

While EVO 2015 initially was supposed to run on the PlayStation 4 version for Ultra Street Fighter IV, the tournament instead used the Xbox 360 version, due to a large number of bugs and glitches found by players in the newly released port.[56] Cuellar also confirmed that EVO 2015 would use the technically outdated build of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax on PlayStation 3.[57] On May 25, Cuellar confirmed that both Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U have surpassed 1,500 entrants each. Cuellar later confirmed that Ultra Street Fighter IV surpassed 2,000 entrants.[58][59] EVO 2015 also acted as a Capcom Cup qualifier for Ultra Street Fighter IV, as well as a Killer Instinct World Cup qualifier for Killer Instinct, with both games receiving respective bonus pots of $50,000 from Capcom/Sony and Iron Galaxy/Microsoft respectively.[60][61][62] NetherRealm and Warner Bros. have also donated $50K towards the bonus pot for Mortal Kombat X, due to the success of the Blue Steel Sub-Zero skin.[63] In addition, Atlus has donated $10K towards the bonus pot for Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, while Arc System Works and Aksys Games donated the same amount to the bonus pot for Guilty Gear Xrd.[64] Bandai Namco has announced that they have provided a $30K bonus pot for Tekken 7 as well as providing all competitors in said game an exclusive T-shirt featuring franchise veteran Lili and Tekken Revolution newcomer Eliza.[65]

2016

Evo 2016 is scheduled to take place from July 15–17 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, while the Sunday finals will take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The tournament will feature Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, Mortal Kombat X, Pokkén Tournament, Killer Instinct, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Tekken 7: Fated Retribution.

Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, Mortal Kombat X, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will finish on Sunday.[66]

Joey Cuellar has confirmed that Street Fighter V has surpassed 4,000 entrants becoming the first game to reach the milestone as well as being the first game to reach the 3,000 entrant milestone doing so back in February. It was also confirmed that Pokkén, Smash 4, and Melee have also surpassed 1,000 entrants each. [67]

References

  1. ↑ "Evo Championship Series". Evo.shoryuken.com. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  2. ↑ Crecente, Brian. Fighting to Play: The History of the Longest Lived Fighting Game Tournament in the World. Kotaku. Oct 6, 2008.
  3. ↑ Walbridge, Michael. In-Depth: Inside The EVO 2009 Fighting Game Championships. Gamasutra. July 22, 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 Kleckner, Stephen. Spotlight on the Evolution 2K4 Fighting Game Tournament. GameSpot. 2004.
  5. ↑ "Evo2k.com". Evo2k.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  6. 1 2 Cuellar, Joey (15 September 2013). "Evo 2014 Announced!". Shoryuken. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "kuroppi.com - EVOLUTION CHAMPIONSHIP Results". Retrieved 2011-09-09.
  8. ↑ "Tournament Results". www.evo2k.com. 2 August 2004. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  9. ↑ "Book in the works about EVO moment #37, the Daigo parry". http://www.eventhubs.com. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  10. ↑ "The Beast is Unleashed: Capcom’s Seth Killian explains the most famous minute in competitive gaming". www.penny-arcade.com. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  11. ↑ Grey, Jonathan. "Seth Killian: Collusion rule has been used in the biggest tournament in the world for years and works fine - origin of collusion guideline explained". eventhubs.com. Eventhubs. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  12. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20060824204055/http://evo2k.com/
  13. ↑ Livingston, Tim (19 August 2008). "EVO 2K8: Fighting Games Personified". Sports Joystick. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  14. ↑ "Evo 2008 Results". www.evo2k.com. 10 August 2008. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  15. ↑ Womack, Barrett (September 5, 2014). "Competitive Leadership: The War for Smash 4". Red Bull eSports. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Evo2k.com". Evo2k.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  17. ↑ Hinkle, David (3 February 2009). "EVO 2009 Championship Series coming to Las Vegas in July". Joystiq. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  18. ↑ "EVO 2009 results for Street Fighter 4, HD Remix, more". EventHubs. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  19. ↑ Fan, Davis (4 August 2009). "Evolution Championship Series 2009 Report". The O-Network. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  20. ↑ "Evo2k.com". Evo2k.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  21. ↑ "EVO 2009 SFIV Top 32 Bracket". ssfranking.com.
  22. ↑ Archived July 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  23. ↑ Jake Gaskill (2010-07-08). "G4 And Capcom Team Up For Epic EVO 2010 Coverage". G4tv.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  24. ↑ "Evo2k.com". Evo2k.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  25. ↑ "EVO 2010 SSFIV Top 32 Bracket". ssfranking.com.
  26. ↑ "Evo2k.com". Evo2k.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  27. ↑ "EVO 2011 Wrap Up and Thanks". shoryuken.com. 2011-08-02. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  28. ↑ "Watch the 2011 EVO World Finals Live in PlayStation Home – PlayStation.Blog". Blog.us.playstation.com. 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  29. ↑ "EVO2K11 Smashes Online Viewership Records". iplaywinner.com. 2011-08-04. Retrieved 2011-08-04.
  30. ↑ Ashcraft, Brian (2011-08-01). "2012 Will Get A New Super Street Fighter IV Version". Kotaku. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  31. ↑ "Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Gameplay Movie 1 (Arcade Games) Check out the demo of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 as it was seen at EVO 2011.". GameSpot. 2011-08-01. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  32. ↑ Plunkett, Luke (2011-08-01). "Soul Calibur V Turned EVO 2011 Into The Stage Of History". Kotaku. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  33. 1 2 "King of Fighters XIII EVO 2011 Interview (PlayStation 3)". GameSpot. 2011-08-01. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  34. ↑ "Participate in the Skullgirls Side Tourney at EVO, Win a One-of-a-Kind Stick". iPlayWinner. 2011-08-01. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  35. ↑ "Evo2k11: Interview with producer Yoshinori Ono". Destructoid. 2011-08-01. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  36. ↑ Conditt, Jessica (2011-07-31). "Eight-year-old Noah brings the pain to pro players at EVO 2011". Joystiq. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  37. ↑ "Meet Noah Solis, the 8-Year-Old Fighting Game Wunderkind". Giant Bomb. 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
  38. ↑ "EVO 2011 SSFIVAE Top 32 Bracket". ssfranking.com.
  39. ↑ "EVO 2012 Goes Down July 6th - 8th, 2012 at Caesars Palace". iPlayWinner. 2011-10-17. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  40. ↑ "Introducing the Evo 2012 Game Lineup and Tournament Season!". shoryuken.com. 2012-01-03. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  41. ↑ "EVO 2012 SSFIVAE2012 Top 32 Bracket". ssfranking.com.
  42. ↑ Cuellar, Joey (2012-12-02). "Evo 2013, July 12-14 at Paris Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas". Shoryuken. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  43. ↑ Cannon, Tom (2013-01-08). "Evo 2013 Details! Game Lineup, Get Your Game to Evo, and Road to Evo Events". Shoryuken. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  44. ↑ Cannon, Tom (2013-02-01). "Fighting Game Fans Raise over $225,000 for Breast Cancer Research. Smash Wins!". Shoryuken. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  45. ↑ Cannon, Tom (July 9, 2013). "Update: Smash is Back!! Changes to Evo 2013 Smash Schedule". Shoryuken. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  46. ↑ Groen, Andrew (July 9, 2013). "Nintendo yanks Super Smash Bros. streaming from EVO, just as quickly reverses decision". The PA Report. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  47. ↑ Cannon, Tom (2013-02-01). "Injustice: Gods Among Us Added to Official EVO 2013 Lineup". Shoryuken. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  48. ↑ "EVO 2013 SSFIVAE2012 Top 32 Bracket". ssfranking.com.
  49. ↑ Cannon, Tom. "Evo 2014 Lineup Revealed!". Shoryuken. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  50. ↑ Cannon, Tom (12 March 2014). "Super Smash Bros. Melee Joins the Evo 2014 Roster!". Shoryuken. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  51. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (12 March 2014). "Super Smash Bros. Melee joins Evo 2014 roster with Nintendo's approval". Polygon. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  52. ↑ "Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Added to the Evo 2014 Lineup, Bandai Namco Joins as Sponsor". Shoryuken. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  53. ↑ "EVO 2014 UFIV Top 32 Bracket". ssfranking.com.
  54. ↑ Walker, Ian (28 October 2014). "Evolution Championship Series Returns July 17–19 at Bally’s / Paris Las Vegas". Shoryuken. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  55. ↑ Walker, Ian (20 January 2015). "Evo 2015 Lineup Announced; Street Fighter, Persona, Tekken, and More!". Shoryuken. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  56. ↑ "Ultra Street Fighter 4 tournament play at Evo 2015 shifts to Xbox 360 after shaky PS4 launch". Polygon. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  57. ↑ Walker, Ian. "EVO 2015 to use Persona 4 Arena Ultimax's technically outdated PS3 version.". shoryuken.com. Shoryuken. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  58. ↑ Walker, Ian. "Smash 4, Melee, and Street Fighter numbers are ridiculous". shoryuken.com. Shoryuken. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  59. ↑ Macone, John. "Ultra Street Fighter IV surpasses 2,000 entrants at EVO 2015.". eventhubs.com. Eventhubs. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  60. ↑ "EVO 2015 to act as a Capcom Cup qualifier". capcomprotour.com. Capcom. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  61. ↑ "EVO 2015 to act as a Killer Instinct World Cup qualifier". ultraarcade.com. Ultra Arcade. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  62. ↑ Walker, Ian. "Killer Instinct Community Fund Reaches $100,000 Goal in Three Days: EVO 2015 to receive half of the money". shoryuken.com. Shoryuken. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  63. ↑ Walker, Ian. "Mortal Kombat X receives $50K Bonus Pot from NetherRealm and Warner Bros. for EVO 2015.". shoryuken.com. Shoryuken. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  64. ↑ Walker, Ian. "Atlus Drop $10K Pot Bonus Towards EVO 2015 Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Prize Pool". shoryuken.com. Shoryuken. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  65. ↑ Walker, Ian. "Bandai Namco provides $30K Bonus Pot and Exclusive T-Shirts for Tekken 7 competitors.". shoryuken.com. Shoryuken. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  66. ↑ Walker, Ian. "EVO 2016 Lineup Revealed". shoryuken.com. Shoryuken. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  67. ↑ Jurek, Steven. "Street Fighter V tournament at Evo 2016 surpasses 4,000 entrants". Daily Dot. Retrieved 2016-05-04.

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