Sony buys rights to Evo fighting game tournaments

The Evolution Championship Series tournaments will become part of Sony Interactive Entertainment. These annual esports events, which revolve around competitions in a variety of fighting games, will remain open to all platforms, according to the acquired organization.

In a statement, Sony reports that it is acquiring Evo together with RTS, through a joint venture construction. RTS is a new company that originated from Endaevor, an American media company that has been active in e-sports for some time. It is unknown how much Sony and RTS paid for the acquisition.

Sony says some of Evo’s co-founders, Tom and Tony Cannon, will remain closely involved, albeit in an advisory capacity. In their role, they must help ensure that Evo continues to serve the fighting game community. Evo emphasized that the tournaments will still remain open to all platforms even after the takeover.

Last year, Evo fell through after allegations of sexual abuse by then-fired CEO Joey Cuellar, but this year the tournaments return. The so-called Evo Online event will take place between August 6-8 and August 13-15. Participation is free and open to players from North America, Europe, and Latin America. The games played in this tournament are Tekken 7, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, and Guilty Gear Strive.

The Evolution Championship Series stems from a series of tournaments that Cuellar, Tom and Tony Cannon and Seth Killian began in 1996. Since 2002, the Evo name has been used and the annual esports event moved to Los Angeles, where it revolved around various Street Fighter games. games. The event grew in the years that followed, with more and more participants, visitor numbers and higher prize money.