Evo 2024 Celebrates Daigo and Justin Wong and Unveils Plans for 2025 Awards Show
This weekend has been quite an experience for Evo, the premiere “Evolution” fighting game championship. Evo 2024 has been underway since Friday, July 19th and features some heavy hitters such as Tekken 8, Guilty Gear: Strive, Street Figher 6, and more. Street Fighter 3: Third Strike made a significant impact this year, drawing in more participants than the relatively new Mortal Kombat 1, despite the latter being just a year old compared to the well-established 20+ year old classic.
By the numbers, Street Fighter 6 came out on top with over 5,000 entrants, a little under one thousand below that is Tekken 8 with 4,646 entrants. Third Strike just broke over the 1,000 mark with 1,101, almost double the number of entrants for Mortal Kombat which was at 645.
At the Third Strike finals, Mark Julio, a key figure for Evo, revealed the upcoming Evo Awards in 2025. Evo is partnering with Quiddiya, a tourism company in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the Esports World Cup is taking place, an event featuring a multi-week competition encompassing all major esports games globally.
The GOATs of the FGC Are Among the First Inducted Into the Evo Hall of Fame
Along with the announcement, Daigo Umehara and Justin Wong were awarded the first Evo Awards for Impact. Both Daigo and Justin have been longstanding and legendary members of the Fighting Game Community and have more than several Evo championship wins under their belts combined. They clashed with each other in 2004 for that year’s Evo Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike championships. When Daigo’s Ken parried Justin Wong’s Chun Li’s Super and won the set, it became known as Evo Moment 37, signifying the most influential match the FGC has ever had. This title was not because there were 36 prior moments, but to humorously emphasize the impact Evo has on the FGC.
The Evo Awards will be voted on by the entire FGC community, with public voting available “soon.” It’s set to debut in Los Angeles, California, in February 2025. Winners will be inducted into the Evo Hall of Fame, alongside Daigo and Justin. This awards ceremony is and will be the first the FGC has had of its kind. These awards will celebrate the influence, impact, and prestige the inductees have over the community. The ceremony will also include some programming, such as those listed below.
Evo Awards Planned Programming
- Meet and Greets
- “Beat-a-Pro” Challenges
- Exhibition Matches
- Sunday Top 6 Watch Parties
Justin Wong, MenaRD, Daigo Umehara, Arslan Ash, TempestNYC and Slash will make appearances. Each of these players have had a profound impact on the community, and have many achievements along with that respect.
The FGC has been growing exponentially, with several key titles releasing in the past year. Personally, I’m excited to see who will be honored during these award ceremonies, which further legitimize video games as an art form and honors the FGC, which has had such a huge influence on esports as a whole.
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