This weekend, the world’s best fighting game players gathered to compete at Evo 2024. The annual tournament is the largest competition of its kind, and in addition to fantastic matches, the event always features major announcements for the fighting game world. This includes updates on existing titles, like the phenomenal Guilty Gear -Strive-, and teasers for upcoming games.
Before we dive into all the biggest news, you should take a look at some of the best matches from this year. Fighting game legend Sonic Fox won another Evo title, this time for Mortal Kombat 1, and the game is just as impressive as you would have imagined. Meanwhile, Guilty Gear -Strive- had a Neck and neck grand final match which showed why the game remains one of the best in the genre. Although my pick for best match of the tournament is Street Fighter 6 grand finalewhich saw player Punk become the first American to win a Street Fighter title in the history of the event.
Now, let’s talk about all those character reveals and other announcements we saw at Evo 2024.
Guilty Gear -Strive- Welcomes New Fighters, Including Lucy from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Three years after its release, Arc System Works’ impeccable Guilty Gear -Strive- game is still going strong, and it’s now welcoming its first guest character. Lucy from the Netflix series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, a prequel to the CD Projekt Red game, joins the Strive character roster. She’ll be released as part of the Season 4 pass in 2025. The Season 4 pass will also include Guilty Gear characters Queen Dizzy, Venom, and the new character, Unika.
MultiVersus Adds Samurai Jack and Beetlejuice
Heihachi is coming to Tekken 8, one way or another
Although “completely dead“After being thrown into a volcano in Tekken 7, Heihachi Mishima will be a new fighter in Tekken 8. The reveal trailer really hyped up the return, even going over the character’s history throughout the series. I’m sure confused fans will be eager to find out what explanation the game has for this miraculous return. Heihachi will be released as part of Tekken 8’s first season pass, alongside other returning fighters Lidia Sobieska and Eddy Gordo. There is currently no release date for the first season.
Riot reveals a lot of information about 2XKO
The fighting game from the developer of League of Legends, 2XKO had a major presence at this year’s Evo. The development team had a booth on the floor and streamed a “2XKO Status“ The game launched in 2011. We were able to see a video preview of Katarina during a playthrough of the game. From this we learned that the launch version of 2XKO will be rather light, with more game modes added post-launch. Monetization will be a big part of the free-to-play title, but the team says that all of the characters on the roster will be available for purchase without spending any money. As for characters, it was confirmed at Evo that Katarina will not be part of the launch roster, and that fan-favorite Jinx will be in the game, but the team wants to take more time before showing her to the public.
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos Gets Surprise Re-Release
The 2003 entry in the crossover fighting series is back. SNK vs. Capcom: Chaos in SVC was announced during the tournament as a ghost version, now available on SteamThe game will also be released on Nintendo Switch and PS4 on July 22. SVC Chaos brings together a massive roster of fighters from games like Mega Man, Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, and more. The re-release adds some welcome modern features like a reliable network restore code.
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising Adds Verusia in Big August Update
Original character Versusia will be joining Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising on August 20. This coincides with a major update 1.50 that will include new story episodes, a new stage, and a new mode called Grand Bruise that the trailer didn’t give any details about. She’ll join a roster that now has over 30 fighters and includes 2B from NieR: Automata. During Evo 2024, Rising also revealed that Vikala will be released in October and Sandalphon will arrive a little later as part of the Season 2 pass.
SNK Announces Return of Art of Fighting and Samurai Showdown Spin-Off
During the SNK Development BoardFatal Fury: City of the Wolves producer Joshua Weatherford has announced a new The art of combat The game is currently in development. Set in the same universe as Fatal Fury, there hasn’t been an Art of Fighting game since the third installment in 1996. Weatherford also hinted that SNK is developing a spin-off of the RPG Samurai Showdown – the series was recently rebooted in 2019. The release dates for those two titles are “far apart,” according to Weatherford.
Kevin Rian Joins Fatal Fury: City of Wolves Team
Here’s your first look at Terry in Street Fighter 6
Fatal Fury mascot Terry Bogard is coming to Street Fighter 6 this fall. We already knew that, since Capcom announced that he’d be part of the game’s Year 2 Character Pass. But now, you can see him in all his glory. The short trailer doesn’t give us much gameplay information, but he still looks like Terry.
King of Fighters XIV adds Mature and Vice
In December, the latest entry in SNK’s fighting series will see two new additions to its roster. Mature, from KoF ’94, and Vice, from KoF ’95, will be released at the same time at the end of the year. Both retain their classic appearance, though we haven’t gotten a glimpse of gameplay.
Hunter x Hunter Fighting Game Reveals More Characters
Mereum, Kite, Morel, and Razor will all be part of the launch roster for the upcoming Hunter x Hunter fighting game. Officially titled Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact (what a mouthful), the 3v3 fighting game is based on the flagship manga series and developed by Eighting, who previously worked on Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The game will be released later this year on Switch, PS5, and PC.
Uzuki arrives in Under Night In-Birth 2 SYS: Céles
On July 25, Uzuki will become the latest fighter added to the 2D fighting game. She is the first of three characters included in Uni2’s season pass. The other two fighters are Ogre, who is coming next February, followed by Izumi, whose August 2025 release date is still a long way off.
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