Evo 2026's final registration numbers are in, and the decline from last year is hard to ignore. Street Fighter 6 led the lineup with 2,414 entrants — but that's nearly half the 4,228 competitors who showed up for the same game at Evo 2025.
Tekken 8, Guilty Gear Strive, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves all posted similar year-over-year drops. The one bright spot was Rivals of Aether 2, which actually grew its entrant count compared to 2025. Evo didn't draw attention to the lower numbers, but players noticed quickly across Bluesky, X, and Reddit.
Several factors are likely piling up. Evo 2026 is running in June instead of its usual August slot, giving competitors less time to prepare and save up. The Evo brand has also expanded globally — Evo Japan ran in May and Evo France is set for October — so some players may simply be opting for a closer event. Earlier this year, the company behind Evo was fully acquired by Saudi Arabian firm RTS, which triggered a backlash in the FGC. On top of that, international players may feel uneasy traveling to the US right now, and domestic attendees might not have the budget for a Las Vegas trip.
Evo is still the biggest fighting game tournament on the planet, but these numbers suggest its pull is weakening. With no official response from organizers yet, the community is left debating whether this is a one-year blip or the start of a longer slide.
Sources (1)
AI-assisted summary, reviewed by our editors — how we work.
Get the daily digest
Top gaming news in Lithuanian — every day at 9:00.