Tekken 7 stays strong
Last year,Dragon Ball FighterZwas the most-watched EVO stream in the event’s history and the number one source of entries for the tournament; now, it’s fallen to seventh place as of this May’s EVO 2019 official count from EVO president Joey Cuellar. You can get a full look at the updated numbers below, which could change between now and the August 2 start date (but only slightly in all likelihood).
Last year things were exceedingly different.Dragon Ball Fighter ZandStreet Fighter Vwere the clear winners, with roughly 1,000 more entrants thanany other fighter. The list then went down toTekken 7in third, followed bySmash 4, Melee, Cross Tag Battle, Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, andInjustice 2bottoming out at a paltry 363 entries.Mortal Kombat 11couldn’t have come at a better time.
So what changed in 2019? Well,Smash Ultimateis a massive hit with pretty much everyone, as it was built to cater to the eSports crowd as the quintessentialSmash: if anything was going to toppleMelee, it wasUltimate.Tekken 7andStreet Fighter Vremain as popular as they were last year, but the big alterations areDragon Ball FighterZ‘s stark decline from first to seventh place (so far) andUnder Night/Samurai Shodown‘s victory.
I can also see why the anime fighter split would hurtFighterZ, despite the fact that it’s been pumping out DLC characters for over a year now.Under Nightis the next unexplored hotness: there’s no EVO champion and everyone wants a taste at that crown: the same goes for shiny newSamurai Shodown. If you’ve been following EVO each year most of this list makes sense, but what really surprises me is seeing how little interest there is inMortal Kombat 11. MaybeInjustice 2cooled off NetherRealm a bit?
Either way, I’m going to missGuilty Gearvery much. It’s been my favorite EVO series for years on end (alongside ofPersona 4 Arena/Ultimax), but something had to give with two Arc games already in the mix (even if I still thinkCross Tagshould be swapped forRev 2).
Joey Cuellar[Twitter]
Evo 2019 Reg Scoreboard May Edition!1st – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate2nd – Tekken 73rd – Street Fighter V4th – Under Night In Birth5th – Samurai Shodown6th – Mortal Kombat 117th – Dragonball FighterZ8th – Soul Calibur 69th – Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle#Evo2019
— Joey Cuellar (@MrWiz)June 05, 2025
