Last year’s EVO tournament was filled with hype matches and crazy announcements. With EVO 2023 set to take place the weekend of August 4th-6th at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, it’s that time to reveal which games will be headliners. Let’s go over the eight games that will be on the main stage later this year in August.

Kicking it all off and the one brand-new title on the list is Street Fighter 6. This wasn’t too surprising considering the recent announcement that the next Capcom Pro Tour season would feature the new entry with an outstanding winner’s prize pool of $2,000,000. Still, the game will have been out for just two months by the time EVO rolls around, so this should be an exciting tournament.

Coming next were two returning games from developer Arc System Works: Guilty Gear Strive and Dragon Ball FighterZ. Both of these were some of the most exciting (and also the longest) tournaments from last year so it’s great to see them again in the lineup. Guilty Gear Strive should have introduced the remaining two DLC characters for season 2 by then. Additionally, the hope is that Dragon Ball FighterZ has added rollback netcode or at least updated the community by then about when to expect it.

The fourth is Tekken 7, one of the oldest to return for its seventh consecutive appearance. As fun as watching high-level Tekken play is, many are going to be looking out for Tekken 8 news. We learned a lot at the Tekken World Tour finals earlier this month and I’m sure fans will be hoping for more character reveals or perhaps a beta announcement.

Taking the fifth and sixth spots are the two most recently released on the list as of yet: The King of Fighters XV and Melty Blood: Type Lumina. The former has seen major character refinements and could possibly see three additional season 2 DLC characters released in addition to the cross-platform update. The latter has changed a lot since last year as well with substantial mechanic changes and four free characters.

Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate is taking the seventh spot. It’s the longest an NRS title has gone before their next project and a lot of fans are ready to see what developer NetherRealm Studios is working on next, but there’s no denying that the eleventh mainline entry in the fatality-filled series is still running strong.

The last spot is being taken by a beloved classic in the fighting game community to celebrate the first-annual EVO Throwback Tournament – Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. To call it a staple and defining title for the scene wouldn’t be doing it justice. Even with such a heavy roster of exciting games, this will likely be the most anticipated along with Street Fighter 6.

On top of the headliner announcements, there are some new changes being made. Each of the main games will now feature a minimum $25,000 prize pool, which is a huge improvement over the past method of simply pooling together every player’s entry fee. Another change is the finals becoming a bit more prestigious with the Top 8 turning into a Top 6. This is being done in hopes that tournaments will be played and finished closer to their scheduled times.

Something else to look forward to is a pre-release tournament for Granblue Fantasy: Versus Rising. Its predecessor was a headliner last year and although it won’t be this year, this tournament will allow fans to check out its recently announced sequel at EVO.

Ready to be a part of Evo history?

Get more info at https://t.co/WgXv1e2Nui and sign up for the event today via the link below!https://t.co/SWcrRszxVA!#Evo2023 pic.twitter.com/e0uEaoEwSb

— EVO (@EVO) February 22, 2023

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