The 2023 Evolution Championship Series (commonly referred to as Evo 2023 or EVO 2023) was a fighting game event held in Las Vegas from August 5 to 7, 2022 as part of the long-running Evolution Championship Series. The event offered tournaments for various video games, including Guilty Gear Strive, Tekken 7, and Dragon Ball FighterZ. It marks the debut tournament of Street Fighter 6 to the event. With 7,061 unique competitors entering the tournament, it was the fighting tournament of all time up to that point.[1]
For the fifth straight tournament, Evo 2023 was held at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas again, with the Mandalay Bay Convention Center hosting the first two days and Michelob Ultra Arena hosting the third day for the sixth consecutive tournament.
The lineup was revealed on February 10, 2023. Every game from last year made a return as a mainline game with the exceptions of Skullgirls: 2nd Encore, Granblue Fantasy Versus and Street Fighter V. Street Fighter 6 made its tournament debut this year. The Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising beta had a tournament as an unofficial entrant sponsored by Cygames.[2] There were also demos for upcoming games Project L, Tekken 8 and Mortal Kombat 1.[3]
9,221 participants were at Evo 2023, setting an attendance record for the event. Street Fighter 6 had 7,083 competitors, also setting a single tournament record for the event.[4]
As usual, the tournament was streamed on the streaming site Twitch, broadcast across multiple different streams. All official streams were also streamed live on YouTube.
Ed Boon revealed a trailer showcasing Reptile, Havik and Ashrah as playable characters to Mortal Kombat 1 as well as Sareena as a Kameo. A teaser trailer was released for new character AKI for Street Fighter 6, with a new set of outfits revealed shortly afterwards. Namco revealed gameplay trailers for returning fighter Raven as well as new character Azucena for Tekken 8. SNK announced the title of Garou 2 as Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Arc Systems Works released a trailer for Johnny as well as a roadmap of the Season Pass 3 for Guilty Gear Strive. French Bread announced Under Night In-Birth 2 Sys:Celes with a 2024 release time. Riot Games released a gameplay trailer for Yasuo for Project L.[5]
Amjad Al-Shalabi
Saul Leonardo Mena II
Victor Woodley
Hajime Taniguchi
William Hjelte
Kim Jae-won
Ismaila Gueye
Adam Farmer
Atir Yosef
Arslan Siddique
Andreij Albar
Nicolas Gonzalez
unknown
Daniel Gras Llopis
Zeng Zhuojun
Lin Chiahung
Agustín Escorcia
Jose Ballestero
Martin T.