EVO 2019 has come to a close, and the event featured many things for fighting game fans to get excited about, including a record-breaking Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament, another SonicFox Grand Finals win, and much more. There were also a number of announcements made at EVO 2019, and a majority of them focused around things like DLC characters and brand new titles.
For those that are interested in seeing all of the EVO 2019 announcements collected in one place, that is exactly the purpose of this article. While it may not be as good as getting to experience these announcements first hand at the event, this roundup will at least offer a summary of all of the big information that came out EVO 2019.
9 BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle: Version 2.0 Reveal
Arc System Works' BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle is getting an update, deemed Version 2.0, on November 21. The BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Version 2.0 update will bring new characters to the fighting game, and these fighters are detailed in the trailer that was shown during EVO 2019.
8 Dragon Ball FighterZ: DLC Characters Reveal
The Dragon Ball FighterZ tournament at EVO 2019 was filled with big matches and emotional moments, and there was some new information about Arc System Works' fighting game officially announced as well. Namely, a trailer shared during EVO revealed Janemba and SSGSS Gogeta as forthcoming Dragon Ball FighterZ DLC characters. Janemba will be available on August 8 while Gogeta is "coming soon."
7 Guilty Gear Announcement
A teaser trailer for a new Guilty Gear game was revealed at EVO 2019. While this Guilty Gear trailer was light on details, it did offer a look at the forthcoming game's style and indicated that its release date would come in 2020.
6 The King of Fighters 15 Announcement
While very little information was given, a brief teaser at EVO confirmed that The King of Fighters 15 is in development. The last entry in this SNK fighting game franchise was released in 2016.
5 Samurai Showdown: DLC Characters Reveal
A Samurai Showdown trailer revealed at EVO 2019 confirmed five new DLC characters, and one will be released every month for the remainder of 2019. These Samurai Showdown DLC characters and their release dates are as follows, and it is important to note that the September fighter will be available for free:
- Rimururu (August)
- Shizumaru Hisame (September)
- Basara (October)
- Kazuki Kazama (November)
- Wan-Fu (December)
Additionally, it was revealed that another season of Samurai Showdown DLC fighters will come in 2020. The first of these Season 2 DLC characters will be Mina Majikina.
4 Soulcalibur 6: Season Pass 2 and Cassandra DLC Character Reveal
There were two Soulcalibur 6 announcements made during EVO 2019, and they are both certain to get fans of Bandai Namco's fighting game excited. The first announcement was that Soulcalibur 6 Season Pass 2 is "coming soon," and it will bring a new system to the game as well as four new DLC characters. Only one of these new Soulcalibur 6 DLC characters has thus far been revealed, and it is Haohmaru from Samurai Showdown.
The other EVO 2019 announcement about Soulcalibur 6 focused around the forthcoming DLC character Cassandra. Indeed, a short trailer gave fans a look at the character in action and also confirmed the Soulcalibur 6 Cassandra release date.
3 Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition DLC Character Reveal
While technically the three new Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition DLC characters were leaked prior to the start of EVO 2019, the announcement was intended for the event, and it has thus been included here. This announcement revealed E. Honda, Poison, and Lucia as the next Street Fighter 5 DLC fighters, and they are all available now.
2 Tekken 7: Season Pass 3 Reveal
Over four years after the release of Tekken 7, Season Pass 3 is set to begin this September, as indicated by a Tekken 7 reveal trailer from EVO 2019. Tekken 7 Season Pass 3 will be a major update that adds new moves for every character on the roster.
Additionally, four characters, one feature, and one stage will be added over the course of Tekken Season Pass 3, which runs through spring 2020. Thus far, only two of the characters have been revealed. The first is the returning Tekken character Zafina, who will release in September, and the other is a brand new fighter named Leroy Smith, who will debut this winter.
1 Under Night In-Birth: Exe:Late[cl-r] Announcement
A new game in the Under Night In-Birth series was announced at EVO 2019 with a trailer. Under Night In-Birth: Exe:Late[cl-r] will introduce a new character in Londrekia, feature rebalanced mechanics, and release in early 2020.
If the sheer number of announcements made at EVO 2019 is any indication, now is an excellent time to be a fighting game fan. While a joke announcement suggesting that Metal Gear Solid's Snake would be coming to Tekken 7 left a bad taste in some fans' mouths, overall the event has given players a lot to look forward to.
EVO 2019 took place August 2 - 4 in Las Vegas, NV.
Source: Newsweek