Evo 2024 brings the best fighting game players to Las Vegas this weekend for a three-day tournament. This year’s Evo is the biggest in the event’s history, with more than 10,000 unique competitors facing off in games like Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, Guilty Gear Strive, and Mortal Kombat 1.
On top of being the fighting game tournament, Evo has also become a major news event. Publishers and developers like Bandai Namco, SNK, Warner Bros., and Arc System Works dropped new game reveals, character announcements, and release date details at Evo.
Here’s everything announced at Evo 2024 (so far).
Heihachi Mishima not dead, coming to Tekken 8
Somehow, Heihachi returned. Despite being thrown into a volcano by his son in Tekken 7
Tekken 8 is also getting a Nike collab. Nike Air Foamposite One “Kazuya” and “Jin” styles are coming soon to the fighting game.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Lucy coming to Guilty Gear Strive
Guilty Gear Strive will get its first guest character with the addition of Lucy from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the Netflix animated series created by Trigger and CD Projekt Red. Lucy will be released sometime in 2025 as part of season pass 4 of Arc System Works’ fighting game.
Before Lucy arrives next year, however, Guilty Gear Strive season pass 4 buyers will also get (Queen) Dizzy in October, Venom in 2025, and a new character, Unika, who will be central to the anime Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers coming out next year from studio Sanzigen.
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising adding Versusia (and Vikala)
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising’s next character is Versusia. She’ll join Cygames and Arc System Works’ fighting game based on the Granblue Fantasy IP on Aug. 20, alongside the 1.50 update. That patch will add new story episodes, a new stage, balance adjustments for the game’s full roster, a new game mode called Grand Bruise, and more.
Cygames teased two other new additions to the Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising roster at Evo 2024: Vikala, who drops in October, and Sandalphon, who will arrive in the season 2 character pass.
Samurai Jack and Beetlejuice head to MultiVersus
Season 2 of MultiVersus kicks off July 23, and it will bring new fighter Samurai Jack with it. Later in season 2 — probably very close to the September release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in movie theaters — will see the addition of another new fighter, Beetlejuice (confirming an old data leak). Samurai Jack is a Bruiser class character, and he’s armed with his mystical katana and fancy footwork, as shown in his reveal trailer, which also teases his Righteous Warrior Jack character variant.
In addition to Samurai Jack, ranked mode and a new stage, the Warner Bros. Water Tower, will be added to MultiVersus on July 23.
The King of Fighters 15 adding Mature and Vice
King of Fighters veterans Vice and Mature will come to The King of Fighters 15 this December, developers from SNK announced at Evo 2024. They’ll sport their classic looks, and be available as stand-alone fighters — not as some sort of two-in-one deal.
Mature made her debut in The King of Fighters ’94
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves adds Kevin Rian to roster
SWAT officer Kevin Rian joins the roster for next year’s Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Kevin made his debut in Garou: Mark of the Wolves, and just as he did in that game, he’ll use explosive attacks to defeat his opponents. In fact, we see Kevin about to use an explosive round to power up a punch to Terry Bogard’s face.
The Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves roster now has nine confirmed characters, with Rock Howard, Terry Bogard, B. Janet, Marco Rodrigues, Preecha, Hotaru Futaba, Vox Reaper, and Tizoc joining Kevin. SNK’s fighting game is out in early 2025, for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.
New Art of Fighting and Samurai Shodown action RPG
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At SNK’s developer panel on Friday, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves producer Joshua Weatherford said that the studio is working on a new Art of Fighting game and an action RPG spinoff of the Samurai Shodown franchise. Both titles are “very far out,” Weatherford said, and he stressed that SNK is looking to staff up for development.
Art of Fighting is SNK’s prequel series to the Fatal Fury games. Like the previous Art of Fighting games, the new one will be set during the 1970s and in the city of South Town. As for the Samurai Shodown ARPG, Weatherford offered little detail, but said “we got a lot of surprises in store for that one.” (SNK previously released a Samurai Shodown RPG for the Neo Geo CD, known as Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidō Retsuden, in 1997.)
SNK released its rebooted Samurai Shodown in 2019.
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos released on modern platforms
SNK and Capcom’s 2003 crossover fighting game that brought together characters from Street Fighter, Fatal Fury, Darkstalkers, Samurai Shodown, Metal Slug, Mega Man, and more is now on modern platforms. SNK shadow-dropped SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos on Steam on Saturday, and plans to release the game on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Windows PC via GOG on July 22.
The new release of SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos adds rollback netcode and tournament modes to the game, but otherwise it should play like its arcade counterpart.
Uzuki for Under Night In-Birth 2 Sys:Celes
The Black Monger, aka Uzuki, comes to Under Night In-Birth 2 Sys:Celes next week, on July 25, Arc System Works and developer French-Bread confirmed at Evo. Uzuki is the first of three characters available as part of the Uni2 season pass. After Uzuki comes Ogre in February 2025 and Izumi in August 2025.
Hunter × Hunter: Nen × Impact
The new 3v3 Hunter x Hunter fighting game from Eighting — co-developer of fighting games Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and DNF Duel — is coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Windows PC in 2024. Publisher Arc System Works confirmed the final roster for Hunter × Hunter: Nen × Impact at Evo, showing off Meruem in gameplay, and confirming Kite, Morel, and Razor by releasing the game’s opening movie.
Previous character reveals for Hunter × Hunter: Nen × Impact include Feitan, Chrollo, Uvogin, Machi, Bisky, Gon, Killua, Leorio, Kurapika, Hisoka, and Netero.