This past weekend saw fighting game fans flock to Las Vegas for EVO 2019, the annual gathering that sees the top players in a variety of fighting games compete to see who the best in the world truly is.
Of course, with all eyes on fighting games for three days straight, developers now use EVO to make announcements regarding the future of fighting games, and 2019 was no different, even if the Street Fighter V characters got leaked ahead of time. Here’s all the relevant news and announcements from EVO 2019.
More Street Fighter News Coming This Winter
While the unfortunate Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition leak might have taken away some of the momentum from EVO 2019’s announcements, producer Yoshinori Ono took to the stage to reveal that more Street Fighter news will be coming in November and December, with the second announcement taking place during Capcom Cup 2019.
Ono didn’t specifically say Street Fighter V, but according to EventHubs, the scroll he was reading off also didn’t mention any particular numbered entry, so it’s likely that we’ll see some additional characters coming to Street Fighter V towards the end of the year. Let us know who you want to see in the comments. I’ve got my fingers crossed for Sean.
Tekken 7 Getting Third Season Of Content
Who doesn’t want more Tekken 7 content? It was announced that Season 3 will be kicking off in September, bringing with it two new characters. Firstly, Zafina will be joining the roster in September, complete with a redesigned outfit and moveset that gives her a big demon hand. It looks like the same style of hand that Azazel has, who was the boss of Tekken 6.
Approaching Winter 2019, Season 3 will then introduce a new character by the name of Leroy Smith. A victim of New York gang violence fifty years ago, Leroy became a master martial artist, and now he’s returned looking for vengeance. We didn’t see any gameplay for Leroy, but his character design is incredibly unique and we’re interested to see more.
Beyond that, Season 3 will include a new update that’ll add new moves for everyone on the roster, an updated UI that’ll include improved play stats display, an expanded range of practice tools and a My Replay & Tips feature. The rest of Season 3 will be bolstered by two new characters, a new stage and a new “feature”, which we’re hoping is Tekken Ball.
It would appear, given the way the content schedule is displayed, that Leroy will be joined by another character and the “feature” in Winter 2019, while Spring 2020 will see the character and stage launch together, implying that Season 3 will close out with another guest character.
Many have speculated that character to be Solid Snake, because of a video that played during EVO 2019 that depicted a codec call with Snake talking about Tekken. However, EVO themselves had to send out a tweet shooting down this idea, claiming it to be a joke they concocted without consulting Bandai Namco.
Just to clear things up, the Snake cameo video that we showed during Tekken finals was our idea of a little joke. It was not intended to imply a character reveal, and was done on our own, without consulting Bandai Namco. Sorry for any confusion!
— EVO (@EVO) August 5, 2019
At this point, who the hell knows if Snake is a guest character? I just want Kazuma Kiryu.
Cassandra and SamSho’s Haohmaru Coming To Soulcalibur VI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4BssK32348
Speaking of new seasons of fighting games, a new season of Soulcalibur VI was announced, which will bring with it four new characters, a whole new system and four creation packs, so if you’re unsatisfied with the new characters, you’ll at least have more tools with which to create your own. Only one character was announced for Season 2, Samurai Shodown’s Haohmaru, but no gameplay footage or release date was mentioned. Haohmaru is also the only guest character mentioned, so sound off in the comments which legacy Soulcalibur characters you’d like to see return.
Before we get to Season 2, Bandai Namco also announced that Season 1 will be finished off today with Cassandra, the younger sister of fellow Athenian roster member Sophitia. Cassandra is available as part of the first Season Pass, and she includes a playable story in Soul Chronicle mode, along with plenty of creation items.
Janemba Revealed For Dragon Ball FighterZ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwCMwR4Ntvw
Season 2 of Dragon Ball FighterZ is in full swing, and EVO made the perfect stage to announce the next DLC character, Janemba. Originally the villain of the non-canonical film Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, Janemba’s second and arguably most famous form is playable in FighterZ.
The trailer also sees some brief gameplay of SSGSS Gogeta, who was announced as “coming soon”, so you’ll be waiting a while to play as a fused, blue haired hero. Janemba, on the other hand, will be available on August 8th as part of the second Season Pass.
Riot Games Working On A Fighting Game
EVO co-founder and current Riot Games employee Tom Cannon revealed during EVO 2019 that Riot Games are working on a fighting game, confirming one of the so-called worst kept secrets in the community. No details were revealed regarding the game itself, but it would mark Riot’s second ever game after League of Legends.
Tom Cannon, along with his brother Tony, founded Radiant Entertainment, who then created Rising Thunder, an ambitious free-to-play fighter that championed accessibility with single button commands. FGC veteran Seth Killian joined the project before Riot purchased Radiant and the game was cancelled, with the Cannons and Seth now working on a new fighting game project for Riot themselves. Hopefully, we’ll hear more about it in the coming months.
Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[cl-r] Revealed
Alright, somebody needs to have a word with whoever is in charge of coming up with the names of the Under Night games, because they’re a bit ridiculous. Either way, during the Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[st] Grand Finals, an updated version called Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[cl-r] was revealed, scheduled to launch in 2020.
This updated version brings with it balance changes and new moves for the roster, along with a brand new character in the form of Londrekia, who wields an ice staff and is capable of freezing his opponents. Fingers crossed some balance changes and one new character aren’t the only additions to this update.
Blazblue Cross Tag Battle Version 2.0 Announced, Includes Giant Tank With A Skull Head
Yeah, you read that right.
After the Blazblue Cross Tag Battle Top 8 during EVO, Arc System Works announced a Version 2.0 Expansion Pack, bringing with it nine new characters, with two new “fates” — or as they’re known in the real world, “franchises” — being added to the cross-over: Senran Kagura and Akatsuki Blitzkampf.
The trailer revealed that Yumi from Senran Kagura, along with the titular Akatsuki and the massive Blitztank from Akatsuki Blitzkampf, will be joining the roster. Also revealed was RWBY’s Neo Politan, with five more characters set to be revealed. Along with these new characters is the standard improvements of new moves, new story features, updated UI and all those other bells and whistles, which will be available to all players. The expansion pack costs $24.99, which translates to around £20.50, and will be available from November 21st.
SNK Announce More Samurai Shodown DLC, KOF 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVJwDYaoO5o
SNK had a lot to announce at EVO 2019, and not just the collaboration with Bandai Namco to bring Haohmaru to Soulcalibur VI. Firstly, new footage was shown of the first season of DLC characters coming to Samurai Shodown, including Rimururu, Basara, Kazuki Kazama, and Wan-Fu, who will be arriving in August, October, November and December respectively. Shizumaru Hisame was also announced as a free DLC character who will be arriving in September.
SNK also revealed that Samurai Shodown will be getting a second season of content, theoretically supporting the game up until EVO 2020. The first announced character is Mina Majikina, who was the winner of a popularity poll. The rest of Season 2 will include 3 additional characters, though SNK haven’t revealed their identities yet.
Finally, as if the SNK news blitzkrieg wasn’t enough, they delivered a teaser trailer confirming that The King of Fighters XV is now development. SNK have already confirmed its existence in the past via conference calls and financial reports, but this is the most public announcement yet. No solid release date for KOF 15 though, so you’ll be playing more Samurai Shodown for the foreseeable.
New Guilty Gear Game Announced
Arc System Works are perhaps the best team out there when it comes to fighting game graphics. Sure, the gameplay is amazing too, but my god: their art team is phenomenal. Guilty Gear Xrd’s animation and art style was absolutely incredible, but if the above teaser for a new Guilty Gear title is anything to go by, they’ve outdone themselves once again.
Series veterans Sol and Ky take centre stage for this trailer, though the footage ends with a look at a brand new character who looks like a badass. Gameplay wise, the new Guilty Gear includes stage transitions, and it would appear that super attacks have been given a more cinematic quality. At the very least, the rock soundtrack remains just as brilliant. The new Guilty Gear is scheduled to launch in 2020.
All The Winners From EVO 2019
And finally, here’s all the winners from EVO 2019 across the nine headlining games. Congrats to the winners, and to everyone that competed.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – FOX|MKLeo
Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition – RB|Bonchan
Tekken 7 – VS|Arslan Ash
Samurai Shodown – Infiltration
Mortal Kombat 11 – FOX|SonicFox
Dragon Ball FighterZ – CO|Go1
Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[st] – WP|ClearLampO
Soulcalibur VI – BNE|Yuttoto
Blazblue Cross Tag Battle – GRV|Shinku
MORE FIGHTING GAMES
– 20 Best PS4 Fighting Games You Should Play
– Biggest New Fighting Games of 2019
– 15 Best Xbox One Fighting Games
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