The 2023 Evolution Championship Series (commonly referred to as Evo 2023 or EVO 2023) was a fighting game event held in Las Vegas from August 5 to 7, 2022 as part of the long-running Evolution Championship Series. The event offered tournaments for various video games, including Guilty Gear Strive, Tekken 7, and Dragon Ball FighterZ. It marks the debut tournament of Street Fighter 6 to the event. With 7,061 unique competitors entering the tournament, it was the fighting tournament of all time up to that point.[1]
For the first time since 2016, EVO 2023 took place in the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Top 6 of every game took place in an arena built within the convention center with the top 4 games by attendance taking place on Sunday.
The lineup was revealed on February 10, 2023. Every game from last year made a return as a mainline game with the exceptions of Skullgirls: 2nd Encore, Granblue Fantasy Versus and Street Fighter V. Street Fighter 6 made its tournament debut this year. The Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising beta had a tournament as an unofficial entrant sponsored by Cygames.[2] There were also demos for upcoming games Project L, Tekken 8 and Mortal Kombat 1.[3]
9,221 participants were at Evo 2023, setting an attendance record for the event. Street Fighter 6 had 7,083 competitors, also setting a single tournament record for the event.[4]
As usual, the tournament was streamed on the streaming site Twitch, broadcast across multiple different streams. All official streams were also streamed live on YouTube.
Ed Boon revealed a trailer showcasing Reptile, Havik and Ashrah as playable characters to Mortal Kombat 1 as well as Sareena as a Kameo. A teaser trailer was released for new character AKI for Street Fighter 6, with a new set of outfits revealed shortly afterwards. Namco revealed gameplay trailers for returning fighter Raven as well as new character Azucena for Tekken 8. SNK announced the title of Garou 2 as Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Arc Systems Works released a trailer for Johnny as well as a roadmap of the Season Pass 3 for Guilty Gear Strive. French Bread announced Under Night In-Birth 2 Sys:Celes with a 2024 release time. Riot Games released a gameplay trailer for Yasuo for Project L.[5]
Amjad Al-Shalabi
Saul Leonardo Mena II
Victor Woodley
Hajime Taniguchi
William Hjelte
Kim Jae-won
Ismaila Gueye
Adam Farmer
Atir Yosef
Arslan Siddique
Andreij Albar
Nicolas Gonzalez
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Daniel Gras Llopis
Zeng Zhuojun
Lin Chiahung
Agustín Escorcia
Jose Ballestero
Martin T.