EVO 2022 Tournament Will Not Include Super Smash Bros. Game
EVO 2022 announcement show will livestream on March 8 at 8:00 p.m. EST
The official Twitter account of the Evolution Championship Series (EVO) fighting game tournament announced on Sunday that Nintendo has decided its Super Smash Bros. fighting game will not be part of this year’s tournament. The EVO 2022 announcement show will livestream on March 8 at 8:00 p.m. EST. The event itself will be held in Las Vegas on August 5-7.
— EVO (@EVO) February 26, 2022
The staff of the tournament stated regarding Nintendo‘s withdrawal of the game, “Since 2007, we’ve seen historic Super Smash Bros. moments created at EVO’s events. We are saddened that Nintendo has chosen not to continue that legacy with us this year. In the future, we hope to once again celebrate the Super Smash Bros. community alongside them.”
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and the Endeavor-led venture RTS acquired the EVO fighting game tournament brand, along with its assets and properties, from the Triple Perfect company operated by the EVO co-founders in March 2021.
The event’s first tournament under this new partnership took place as an online event last August.
The tournament was slated for an online event in July 2020 following the in-person event’s cancellation due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, but it was later canceled following controversy of co-founder Joey Cuellar admitting to allegations of abuse of minors, and sponsors and game developers pulling out of the event afterward. He was then removed from the company.
RTS is a new esports venture from the Endeavor company, a media company that, among its many holdings across sports, advertising, and entertainment, is also the partial owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and the owner of Miss Universe.
EVO Japan, the first EVO tournament to be held in Japan, was held in January 2018. The event returned with a second tournament in 2019, although the venue moved to Fukuoka. The next tournament in January 2020 again moved the venue to the Makuhari Messe in Chiba.
Sources: EVO’s Twitter account, IGN (Adam Bankhurst) via Siliconera
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