There’s no shortage of esports competition in 2020, but I’ve got a love for fighting games that trumps every other genre that gets a chance in the spotlight lately. There’s just something pure and irresistible about fighting games, whose premise is simple enough to understand: Two players, one health bar each and a few short rounds to see who has the skill to come out on top.
The Wrestlemania of fighting games kicks off on July 31, as EVO 2020 has just announced which eight games will make the cut and see players battle it out for a massive pot of cash:
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Tekken 7
- Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition
- Dragon Ball FighterZ
- Samurai Shodown
- GranBlue Fantasy Versus
- Soul Calibur 6
- UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[cl-r]
No real surprises there. Releases in the fighting game genre have slowed down somewhat in recent years, with familiar franchises carving out a spot amongst the community. The biggest omission on that list is easily Mortal Kombat 11, with NetherRealm’s fighter having been booted off the schedule which includes a roster of otherwise predictably safe games.
It’s not too hard to see why Mortal Kombat 11 won’t feature though, as the game happens to have its own major tournament scene that draws in the cream of the fighting game community crop. The other absence on the list is BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, which hasn’t seen as much love from its developer Arc System Works lately and has been replaced by the more up to date GranBlue Fantasy Versus instead. Ultimate and Samurai Shodown, while heavyweight titles such as Dragon Ball FighterZ enters the fray for yet another year of action.
Sweet Shenron, that game is still so good though. In addition to that, an eight player invitational tournament for Marvel vs. Capcom 2 will also be held in case you want to see pros take on Capcom’s classic seizure-inducing game. For a look back at last year’s grand finals, hadouken this link pronto.
Last Updated: February 5, 2020
Pixelated Gambit
February 5, 2020 at 14:33
The Marvel vs Capcom 2 announcement was quite a surprise. Glad to see it get shown love for its 20th anniversary. Going to be great to see some of the OG players duke it out again.
Craig "Crios" Boonzaier
February 5, 2020 at 16:28
Tekken 7 has the World Tour, but it still gets a slot here. Wonder if there is another reason why MK11 has been booted.
Regardless though, I’m just in it for the SoulCalibur.