What’s On The Shelf | Games, Music & Culture

Another American EVO is in the books, and this year’s event was another excellent showcase of what makes fighting games so entertaining. It was a mixed bag of old favorites, brand-new releases, familiar faces, and some genuinely exciting announcements for the future of the genre.

I’ll keep this article mostly spoiler-free. I’ll touch on a few announcements and observations from the weekend, but I won’t spoil any tournament results. If you’re still catching up on the matches, you’re safe to keep reading.

A View From the Outside

I’m not really part of the fighting game community. I’m decent enough at Street Fighter and have logged an embarrassing number of hours across the Smash series. My claim to fame—and the extent of my credentials—is reaching Diamond with E. Honda in Street Fighter 6. Impressive for a bum, but nowhere near the caliber of the people making deep EVO runs.

Despite that, EVO has become one of my favorite weekends of the year.

I wasn’t able to make the trip to Las Vegas this time around, but the event lived on my television and phone throughout the weekend. There’s something about the atmosphere that keeps pulling me back every year. The roaring crowd after a clutch comeback, commentators losing their minds over impossible reads, and players calmly executing things I’d struggle to do in training mode with unlimited retries—it never gets old.

One thing I found myself doing differently this year was spending a lot more time on the secondary stream. Normally I’m glued to Street Fighter or Tekken, but I bounced between matches from Vampire Savior, Rivals II, City of the Wolves, and Invincible VS. Those games may not command the same audience numbers, but they often produced some of the weekend’s most entertaining moments.

Two Stages, One Problem

One thing that gave me pause this year was EVO’s decision to split the championship day between two primary broadcasts.

One stream featured Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6, and 2XKO. The other handled Rivals II, Vampire Savior, City of the Wolves, and Invincible VS.

It’s pretty obvious which stream carried the larger audience.

Logistically, I understand why it happened. There are simply too many games and too few hours in a day. Still, it felt like some of the newer titles never quite got their moment in the spotlight.

I especially found it strange that 2XKO and Invincible VS—arguably two of the biggest newcomers at the event—were split between different broadcasts. It worked well enough if you were willing to hop back and forth during breaks, but it also reinforced the feeling that there was a “main event” stream and then…everything else.

Part of the magic of EVO is discovering games you wouldn’t normally watch. I think more people would’ve walked away impressed by those smaller communities if they had been showcased on the main stage instead of feeling like an alternate broadcast.

Street Fighter 6 Finally Feels Diverse

One of my biggest takeaways from this year’s tournament was how healthy Street Fighter 6 looked.

The last time I watched EVO, it felt like every other match featured JP or Ken. This year I saw Sagat, Elena, Jamie, Ryu, M. Bison, Mai, Dee Jay, Juri, Blanka, and several others making deep runs. I can only remember seeing a single mirror match throughout the time I watched.

The newer character additions have clearly shaken things up, and it’s made the viewing experience significantly better.

Sure, nobody has yet demonstrated the mental fortitude—or perhaps the questionable life choices—required to main E. Honda at the highest level, but I’ll keep holding out hope.

Watching a variety of characters means watching different strategies, different pacing, and entirely different win conditions. That’s infinitely more enjoyable than watching two JPs spend two minutes throwing purple spikes at each other while both players attempt perfect parries until someone finally blinks.

How Long Do These Games Last?

Watching EVO also made me wonder about the lifespan of modern fighting games.

The tournament generally focuses on current releases, with one or two legacy titles sprinkled into the schedule. That makes complete sense, but I wouldn’t mind seeing an even larger celebration of the genre’s history.

There’s something special about watching masters continue to push games that released decades ago. Fighting games don’t really become obsolete in the same way other competitive games do. The mechanics stay the same. The communities simply become better at exploiting every tiny detail.

I’d happily watch more classics earn time on the biggest stage.

At the same time, it made me appreciate the current generation while it’s here. I wasn’t deeply invested in the competitive scene during the transition from Street Fighter V to 6 or from Tekken 7 to 8. Eventually Capcom and Bandai Namco will decide it’s time to move on again, and today’s headliners will become tomorrow’s legacy games.

That’s just the cycle.

The Spirit of Marvel vs. Capcom

One joke about Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has always stuck with me:

Once somebody landed the first hit, the single-player game started.

That game was famous for absurdly long combo strings capable of deleting entire teams before the opponent had another opportunity to play.

Watching 2XKO and City of the Wolves occasionally reminded me of that philosophy.

There were several matches where Thresh in 2XKO or Mr. Karate in City of the Wolves would begin a combo that felt like it lasted forever. Fifty- or sixty-hit sequences are undeniably impressive. The execution required is incredible, especially under tournament pressure.

As a spectator, though, there were moments where I mentally checked out.

It’s the age-old balancing act for fighting games. Players love mastering difficult execution, while viewers generally want the back-and-forth interaction that creates dramatic moments. The best matches usually find that balance.

Final Thoughts

There wasn’t much to complain about this weekend.

The Losers Final in Tekken, the Grand Finals for 2XKO, and the Street Fighter 6 championship all delivered exactly what you’d hope for from EVO. And I’ll happily watch just about any Guilty Gear Strive match, even if I fully accept that I’ll never become remotely competent enough to play it at a respectable level.

My biggest gripe actually has nothing to do with the tournament itself.

EVO’s YouTube channel does an incredible job getting matches uploaded almost immediately, but the thumbnails still have a habit of spoiling later rounds. When you’re catching up after the fact, seeing who’s featured in a Grand Finals thumbnail takes a little bit of the wind out of the sails. I don’t know what the perfect solution is, but I’d love to see a more spoiler-friendly approach.

Overall, EVO 2026 was another fantastic weekend. Great matches, exciting new games, and enough memorable moments to keep me glued to the streams for far longer than I should’ve been.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a fight stick collecting dust that desperately wants me to boot up Street Fighter 6 again, where I’ll inevitably spend the evening getting thoroughly dismantled by a Ken somewhere in mid-Diamond.

Some traditions never die.