EVO
Stun meter
Unpicking the implications of Sony’s acquisition of Evolution, the world’s biggest fighting-game tournament
The jokes write themselves. Smash Bros booted off the main stage to make way for PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale; likewise Killer Instinct for Battle Arena Toshinden. Sony and Daigo Umehara negotiating visitation rights for Justin Wong, since both of them now own him. As is often the case when big news breaks, the meme machine span into overdrive when Sony announced it had acquired the Evolution Championship Series (Evo), the largest fighting-game tournament in the world, through a joint venture with new esports company RTS. But memes were pretty much all there were – plus one recurring question. Why?
For Evo, at least, the motivations are clear. A business based on in-person events has been devastated by COVID- 19. The brand has suffered too, after Evo co-founder Joey Cuellar was accused of sexual harassment. Cuellar was ousted as CEO, and the planned online replacement for last summer’s tournament was cancelled. Cuellar’s fellow co-founders, brothers Tom and Tony Cannon, can be forgiven for thinking an exit was the sensible option.