Although the popularity of fighting games pales in comparison to the action and shooter genres, Evo continues to draw a large following. Known as the world’s largest annual video game fighting event, Evo recently confirmed its lineup of games for the fall 2020 championship. While there were a few surprise inclusions the most notable snub is angering many fans. Let’s dive in.

The Lineup

In a February 5th Tweet, Shoryuken confirmed the following games for Evo 2020:

• Under Night In-Birth Eve: Late[cl-r]
• Super Smash Bros Ultimate
• Dragon Ball FighterZ
• SoulCalibur VI
• Samurai Shodown
• Tekken 7
• Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
• Granblue Fantasy Versus
• Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes

Analysis

Out of the nine confirmed games, seven are returning from last year’s event with Super Smash Bros Ultimate designated as the mainline event for the second year in a row. Evo replaced Mortal Kombat 11 and BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle with the likes of Granblue Fantasy Versus and Marvel vs Capcom 2.

While the game received mixed reviews on the XBOX and PS2, critics consider Marvel vs Capcom 2 one of the best fighting games ever released for the XBOX 360 and PS3. Given the 20th anniversary since its release, most fans applaud Evo for including Marvel vs Capcom 2 in this year’s main event. All of this makes sense, which leaves us with Granblue Fantasy Versus and Mortal Kombat 11.

Mortal Kombat 11 was immensely popular in the west throughout 2019 and became the second best-selling game in the United States behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Despite these accolades, Evo still chose to replace MK11 with Granblue Fantasy Versus. The biggest question is “why”, and we do not have a solid answer. Granblue Fantasy Versus released this week in Japan and is not set to release in the west until March. So why is Evo favoring an unreleased game instead of MK11?

We may never know the answer to the question; however, we do know that the Mortal Kombat community is not happy. Developer NetherRealm has tailored the last few installments to the eSports community, and being snubbed by Evo is a huge blow to fans of the series. Perhaps next year’s lineup offers new opportunities, but 2020 appears to be a lost year for the Mortal Kombat fanbase.

Conclusion

The bottom line is this: Evo does not have a good reason for snubbing Mortal Kombat 11 in favor of Granblue Fantasy Versus. In fact, with the removal of MK11, Evo 2020 does not have a single headline game developed in the west. Given the popularity of MK11, Evo might have been better off including the NetherRealm gem in this year’s lineup.

But we want to know what you think. Are you excited about Super Smash Bros Ultimate headlining Evo 2020? What do you think about Evo choosing to leave Mortal Kombat 11 out of the lineup? Let us know in the comments below or the social media links on the right. Be sure to check out our home page as well as the news items and editorial section for all of your gaming needs.

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