EVO 2024 Lineup Announced: Mortal Kombat 1 and Tekken 8 Make Their Debut, and a Classic Returns

The biggest fighting game tournament in the world is returning to Las Vegas. EVO 2024 will take place from July 19-21st in a new venue: the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. EVO 2024 will be the biggest EVO ever, featuring several new additions and eight games gracing the main stage. All told, four games will be making their debut as a main title. We learned a ton about what EVO will look like in 2024 from the EVO Announcement Show on Twitch. In short, it’s going to be much, much bigger than last year’s event.

EVO 2023 was a great show, and we documented the journey of IGN’s own Mitchell Saltzman as he competed at the event. but this year will see several improvements to the EVO format. First up, there will now be a dedicated registration area to keep lines shorter. In addition, the EVO show floor will be open all three days. That means three days of artist alley, publisher booths, the EVO Arcade, and more.

Speaking of the EVO Arcade, EVO 2024 will be the largest in EVO history with a bigger BYOC (Bring Your Own Controller) area. This year, there will also be an all-new art gallery with works from the history of the FGC on display and a brand new stage for EVO showcases on Friday featuring interviews, exhibitions, and more. The popular cosplay contest will also return, and perhaps most importantly, you’ll no longer need separate tickets for the Finals on Sunday. Since the show floor will be open all three days, you can go back and forth from the Finals to the show floor as much as you like.

In addition to all the details on the event itself, we also got a look at the eight games that will grace the EVO main stage, four of which will be making their EVO debut, which are highlighted in bold:

• Street Fighter 6 (Capcom) – PS5
• Tekken 8 (BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment) – PS5
• Mortal Kombat 1 (WB Games) – PS5
• Guilty Gear: Strive (Arc Systems Works) – PS5
• King of Fighters XV (SNK) – PS5
• Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising (Cygames, Inc.) – PS5
• Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes] (French Bread) – PS5
• Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (Capcom) – Arcade

You’d expect newcomers like Tekken 8 and Mortal Kombat 1, but it’s good to see smaller, lesser-known games like Granblue and Under Night get their turn under the bright lights. The real story, however, is the return of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, which makes sense, since Evo 2024 will be the 20th anniversary of EVO Moment 37. Yes, that EVO moment 37. There will also be a community stage where community-run tournaments will get their time in the sun, though those games haven’t been announced yet.

It’s a lot to take in, but if you can’t get enough EVO, EVO Japan is set to take place in April 27-29, which will feature every game at EVO minus Mortal Kombat 1. If you’re looking to register or just want to learn more, you can head over to https://www.evo.gg for additional details.

Will Borger is an IGN freelancer. You can find him on Twitter @bywillborger