The lineup for this year’s all-online edition of the Evolutionary Championship Series (EVO) fighting game tournament has been officially announced – and one very notable title is quite conspicuously absent. Super Smash Bros.: Ultimate will not be making an appearance at the tournament, marking the first time in many years that no Smash title will have any representation at EVO.
No official statement regarding the game’s absence has been made by either Nintendo or the organizers of EVO. However, speculation runs rampant. Many fans believe that Smash was removed due to its reportedly poor online performance.
Since the game’s release in 2018, players have complained of several issues occurring during online play. Reports include broken connections, frequent lag rendering the game unplayable, and weak match-ups pitting Smash gamers against opponents extremely ill-suited to their current skill and level of play. Also, the game conspicuously lacks netcode, a feature that makes online play and communication significantly more manageable and smoother.
A total of eleven games will be featured at 2020’s EVO Online. The full list includes:
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- Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late
- Dragon Ball FighterZ
- Tekken 7
- Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
- SoulCalibur VI
- Granblue Fantasy: Versus
- Samurai Shodown
- Skullgirls Encore
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Killer Instinct
- Them’s Fightin’ Herds
The tournament, which was initially scheduled to take place in Las Vegas, will be held entirely online over a series of 5 weekends. EVO 2020 will begin on July 4th and run through August 2nd. Four of the events — Mortal Kombat, Skullgirls, Killer Instinct, and Them’s Fightin’ Herds — will be open and accepting signups. Information regarding how to sign up, as well as how to watch the event online, will be released as the date draws closer.
While we may be disappointed to see Super Smash Bros.: Ultimate removed from the lineup, we’re still anticipating a tremendous online EVO event coming to our screens this summer!
