Sony has a new acquisition to the PlayStation family, only this time it’s not a game studio but the fighting game tournament, Evo.
It is a joint acquisition made in partnership with new esports venture RTS, as announced on Sony Interactive Entertainment’s blog.
The announcement also confirmed that Evo will return this summer as Evo Online, a fully online competition taking place during August 6–8 and 13–15. Entry to the tournament is free and eligible to players in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
PlayStation’s ownership of Evo, however, raises concerns over what fighting games will be included in the tournament. Nintendo Switch title Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which headlined the 2019 event, is absent from the currently confirmed list of tournaments for Evo Online, which include Tekken 7, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate and Guilty Gear Strive.
Nintendo responded to the acquisition with a statement to IGN. “We will continue to assess Evo, and other opportunities, as we plan for future online and offline Super Smash Bros. tournament activity,” a spokesperson for Nintendo said.
Nonetheless, Evo’s business development lead Mark Julio assured fans via Twitter that the competition will remain open to other platforms. “The teams at PlayStation and RTS are enabling us to continue working with our community to support fighting games,” he said.
Evo was cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. An online event was then cancelled after the tournament’s CEO was fired over allegations of sexual misconduct.
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