Evo 2024 has come and gone, with another year of spectacular fighting game competition in the books. Across its eight main games and many, many side tournaments and exhibitions, there was really no shortage of high-level fightin’ and scrappin’ to watch.
With all the streams and excitement, though, it might be easy to overlook some of the news announced over the course of the event. Who wasn’t distracted by Hayao’s 3rd Strike run, after all? So we’ve gathered all the fighting game news from the weekend in one convenient post, to peruse in the wake of another excellent Evo. Here’s every piece of fighting game news announced at Evo 2024.
Hunter x Hunter: Nen Impact adds Meruem, shows opening movie
The upcoming Hunter x Hunter fighting game Nen Impact didn’t just get one new character, but what looks like its entire base roster is confirmed. The Chimera Ant leader Meruem got the most spotlight, but there are a few more familiar faces sprinkled throughout the opening movie. Though a few notable HxH characters are missing, it looks like a solid roster to start.
Rivals 2 adds Orcane, and is making the post-launch roster free
While platform-fighters walk a thin line between fighting games and being their own thing, Rivals of Aether has been an excellent Smash alternative to follow. Alongside confirming Orcane is making the jump to Rivals 2 when it launches in 2024, Aether Studios also confirmed all future Rivals 2 characters will head to the game free-of-charge. Pretty rad! Speaking of platform-fighters…
Samurai Jack is coming to MultiVersus
Season 2 is on the way for MultiVersus, with Samurai Jack in the lead and Beetlejuice due later on. Warner Bros.’ multiversal multiplayer game has certainly had a rough go of things, but maybe a guaranteed crowd-pleaser like Jack can help tilt the narrative back in its favor. Samurai Jack arrives with Season 2 on July 23.
Here’s what skins will look like in 2XKO
Riot’s League of Legends fighting game 2XKO didn’t share too much major news, as the team just recently revealed Braum and has its alpha coming up soon. For Evo 2024, though, the developers did show a brief look at the possibilities for skins in 2XKO using Ahri’s Dynasty fit. If LoL is any indication, I definitely expect this game to have some cosmetic options when it fully launches next year.
The King of Fighters XV adds Vice and Mature
SNK had quite a bit of news to announce this weekend, starting with Vice and Mature joining the KOF XV roster in December 2024. It’s the addition of two known characters, but it’s nice to know Team Yagami fans can get the team back together.
Fatal Fury: COTW adds Kevin Rian to the line-up
The upcoming City of the Wolves also announced Kevin Rian for the lineup. Still not too much to talk about here, but the next Fatal Fury is looking quite solid. I got to play some of it back at Summer Game Fest this year, and dug how it’s been coming along. Alongside the new trailer, we also got a quiet confirmation that SNK is working on a new Art of Fighting and a Samurai Shodown action RPG.
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos gets a re-release
Here’s the big surprise of the weekend from SNK: SVC Chaos is re-released for PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam and GOG. It’s a bit more niche and not quite as beloved as Capcom vs. SNK, but it certainly throws some fuel on the fire for those wanting a re-release of CvS, or even a new title.
Under Night In-Birth 2 Sys:Celes adds Uzuki this month
Back on the anime fighter side, Under Night In-Birth 2 is continuing its character rollout with Uzuki, who’s going to be widely available not long after the conclusion of Evo 2024.
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising confirms a second year of content
For Granblue players, Cygames confirmed an entire second year of content is coming to Rising, with Versusia already locked in and more characters on the way. Plus, there are a host of feature updates and even story content planned. It was really rad to see the Granblue scene thriving in the early Sunday morning finals slot.
Guilty Gear Strive reveals four more fighters, including Lucy from Cyberpunk Edgerunners
While the surprise was dampened a bit by an early leak, it’s still crazy that Guilty Gear is adding a guest character, and from Cyberpunk Edgerunners. That said, Lucy feels like a perfect pick, and I cannot wait to see what she plays like sometime next year. Meanwhile, a new character is also planned for Strive, alongside series favorites Dizzy and Venom.
Somehow, Heihachi returns to Tekken
Remember how Heihachi got thrown into a volcano? Well, it’s the year of the dead fighting game villains returning; first Bison came back to Street Fighter, and now Heihachi is returning as the third character in Tekken 8‘s DLC roll-out. Expect him sometime after Lidia, who goes live this coming week. Some story DLC is also on the way too, which is a pretty notable addition for Tekken lore fans.
Evo is adding a few new events
Since its acquisition by Sony and RTS, Evo has been steadily expanding. It looks like that isn’t stopping, as Evo is planning four events next year: the Evo Awards in February, Evo Japan in May, the main Evo show next August, and Evo France in October. Organizer Rick “The Hadou” Thiher also teased a Singapore event for 2026. I love seeing the European scene, and France in particular, get the Evo spotlight like this.
Here’s a new look at Terry Bogard in Street Fighter 6
After the confirmation at SGF 2024, we knew SNK’s Terry was joining the Street Fighter 6 lineup this autumn. While Terry’s trailer at Evo 2024 didn’t necessarily contain any new information, we did get to see him in motion, and I think he looks pretty solid. No doubt he’ll be popular when he joins the roster this fall.
That’s everything for Evo 2024. A slightly more subdued year, without any major game reveals and a few known quantities, but certainly no shortage of new fighters entering their respective arenas. Plus, a surprise retro re-release that might put some hope in older fighting game fans’ hearts for more.
News or not, there were some fantastic finals, from an energetic 3rd Strike bracket to incredible matches across Granblue, Tekken, and more. Here’s to one good year in the books, and another year of fighting games ahead.
Published: Jul 22, 2024 09:13 am