Your complete guide to Evo 2024 – Schedule, games, and what to watch

This weekend is gonna be full of fighting game action. Evo, or the Evolution Championship Series, is one of the biggest fighting game events of the year, and Evo 2024 is running all weekend to determine who’s top of their field across many major brawlers.

Held in Las Vegas, Nevada, Evo’s open-bracket structure means anyone can fly in and sign up to compete. This, combined with its prestige, has led to Evo becoming one of—if not frankly the—trophy to win for modern fighting game competitors. And it’s also been home to some historic moments for the fighting game community (FGC), from the Daigo parry to premature celebrations alike.

So what’s happening at Evo 2024 this year? Well, alongside plenty of panels and side games, there will be three days of competition across the eight main stage games. Here’s everything you need to know about the event.

What are the main stage games at Evo 2024?

Evo 2024 will play home to many, many fighting games. Competitors flying in are just as likely to compete in a few side tournaments and community events as they are the main event. But as for the main stage, Evo is featuring eight games in its lineup:

• Street Fighter 6
• Tekken 8
• Guilty Gear Strive
• Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
• Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
• Under Night In-Birth 2 Sys:Celes
• Mortal Kombat 1
• The King of Fighters XV

These games will host tournaments that whittle their player pools down to increasingly smaller sizes in a double-elimination bracket, culminating in a Top 6 showdown. The above list is also sorted by entrant numbers; The King of Fighters XV brought in 375 entrants, while Street Fighter 6 hosts its sophomore Evo tournament with 5,265 entrants. That’s quite a lot of fireballs.

Entrant numbers are important, because they ultimately determine who takes the main stage and when.

What’s the schedule for Evo 2024?

Evo 2024 runs from Friday, July 19 through Sunday, July 21. Tournaments will run throughout all three days, slowly working through every game’s bracket on various streams. Saturday will feature the bottom four games’ finals, alongside continued bracket play. Sunday is always reserved for the Top 6 matches for the top games; colloquially, Grand Finals Sunday.

Seven Twitch channels, ranging from the main channel to 2 through 7, will air the various games and their brackets. If you’re a sports fan, it’s a bit like March Madness or the World Cup. Viewers can opt to tune into streams specific for their favorite games, with commentators and everything.

If you want to keep up with the Top 6 match-ups and ultimate winners of every bracket, then I recommend sticking to the main Evo channel. However, if you want to always be watching some games, Friday would be a good day to hop around the other Evo channels. That’s because the Evo 2024 Showcase will dominate the main channel on Day 1, and it looks like a pretty packed schedule.

What’s in the Evo 2024 Showcase?

Every year, Evo has added more developer news and panels to its production schedule, and this year looks to really maximize the stage time. From 10 a.m. through the end of the day, the Evo Showcase will be putting on decidedly different programming from the bracket play on the other channels.

Here’s a rundown of the Evo 2024 Showcase schedule, via the Evo site (times in US PT):

• 10 a.m. – HUNTERxHUNTER NENxIMPACT Panel
• 11 a.m. – HUNTERxHUNTER NENxIMPACT Exhibition Tournament
• 1 p.m. – Live Rivals React with Justin Wong and Yipes
• 1:30 p.m. – Capcom Panel
• 2:30 p.m. – GBVSR Panel from Cygames
• 3 p.m. – Sajam Slam: Beat a Pro
• 4 p.m. – TEKKEN 8 X Chipotle – SPECIAL EVO PANEL
• 4:30 p.m. – Cannon Awards
• 4:45 p.m. – FGC Feud with JMCrofts
• 5:30 p.m. – The Art of Guilty Gear -Strive- Panel
• 6:15 p.m. – Rivals 2 Panel
• 6:30 p.m. – Seth Killian Interview with SonicFox
• 7 p.m. – FATAL FURY: CotW & KOF XV – SNK Developer Panel
• 8 p.m. – FATAL FURY: CotW Exhibition Tournament

As you can see, it’s a mixture of developer panels, content creator segments, interviews, and even an awards show. Upcoming games like Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves and Hunter x Hunter Nen x Impact will get some stage time, and there will also be some neat conversations, like Seth Kilian interviewing legendary competitor SonicFox.

While you might miss the fighting game action on Friday for this, it’s a good way to catch some news. I would expect the major reveals—namely, any new games or fighters—to be saved for Grand Finals Sunday, between the Top 6 events. If you want the granular details though, the Showcase will probably have you covered.

What other streams are airing during Evo 2024?

As always, the action isn’t limited to just the main stage at Evo 2024, or even just the main Evo channels. Several community-driven organizations and broadcasters will be airing their own streams throughout the weekend, whether that’s a community tournament on-site or a rowdy suite set-up.

A major facet of this will be the Community Showcase, which spotlights various fighting games that didn’t make the cut for the main stage 8, but still often feature stellar competition between devoted players. Here’s the Community Showcase schedule, alongside the Twitch channels they’ll be airing on (all times in US PT):

Friday, July 19

Airing on ten/O:

• 10 a.m. – Guilty Gear +R Pools
• 2 p.m. – Guilty Gear +R Top 6
• 4 p.m. – Capcom vs. SNK 2 Top 4
• 6 p.m. – Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Top 8

Airing on FunkyP:

• 10 a.m. – Melty Blood: Type Lumina Pools
• 2 p.m. – Melty Blood: Type Lumina Top 16
• 4 p.m. – Ultra Street Fighter IV Pools
• 6 p.m. – Ultra Street Fighter IV Top 6

Saturday, July 20

Airing on teamsp00ky:

• 10 a.m. – Melty Blood: Type Lumina Top 6
• 12 p.m. – BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Top 6
• 2 p.m. – Killer Instinct Top 16
• 4 p.m. – Killer Instinct Top 6

Airing on ten/O:

• 10 a.m. – Guilty Gear Xrd Pools
• 2 p.m. – Guilty Gear Xrd Top 24
• 4 p.m. – Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Pools
• 6 p.m. – Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Top 24
• 8 p.m. – Samurai Shodown Top 24

Airing on FunkyP:

• 10 a.m. – Soulcalibur VI Pools
• 2 p.m. – Soulcalibur VI Top 24
• 4 p.m. – Dragon Ball FighterZ Pools
• 6 p.m. – Blazblue Central Fiction Top 24
• 8 p.m. – Vampire Savior Top 6

Airing on Reversal:

• 6 p.m. – Dragon Ball FighterZ Top 24
• 8 p.m. – Dragon Ball FighterZ Top 6

Sunday, July 21

Airing on teamsp00ky:

• 10 a.m. – Guilty Gear Xrd Top 6
• 12 p.m. – Blazblue Central Fiction Top 6
• 2 p.m. – Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Top 6

Airing on ten/O:

• 10 a.m. – Street Fighter V Pools
• 2 p.m. – Street Fighter V Top 6

Airing on FunkyP:

• 10 a.m. – Street Fighter 2 Super Turbo Pools
• 2 p.m. – Street Fighter 2 Super Turbo Top 6

Airing on MajinObama:

• 10 a.m. – Soulcalibur VI Top 6
• 12 p.m. – Samurai Shodown Top 6
• 2 p.m. – DNF Duel Top 6

Airing on bgcallisto:

• 10 a.m. – Skullgirls Pools
• 2 p.m. – Skullgirls Top 6

These are typically smaller tournaments than the main stage games, but the FGC has plenty of people who show up and play the games they enjoy, regardless of mainstream popularity. I highly recommend checking these out – if you recommendations, you really can’t go wrong with some Melty Blood, Soulcalibur, or Skullgirls.

What are the storylines going into Evo 2024?

As for what to watch for, each game in the main stage lineup has its own legacy going into this weekend. Some are the new kids on the block, or maybe even the latest entry in a long-running series, while others feature scenes that have developed and changed over time, even playing host to their own rivalries and drama. The people make the competition interesting, and there’s no shortage of interesting competitors.

For The King of Fighters XV, many eyes will be on Xiao Hai, a dominant competitor who took Evo Japan 2023 without dropping a set. Look for the Latin American scene to show up in force here to try and block a Xiao Hai run.

Mortal Kombat 1 has been, to use a tired euphemism, a mixed bag. There are plenty of strong competitors, with SonicFox as the presumptive favorite, but the game itself hasn’t seen the kind of enthusiastic reception you’d expect for Mortal Kombat or NetherRealm. This entry’s Evo debut will definitely set the tone for MK1 moving forward.

Tekken 8 will also be setting a tone with its Evo 2024 debut, though it’s entering the weekend in a more favorable position; Tekken 7 has, in my opinion, been one of the better fighting games to watch over the last few years. The competition has been fierce, the vibrant international scene has only raised the bar, and the players put their all into taking home the trophy.

Both Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6 look strong going into their respective tournaments, which feels reflected by their position at the top of the entrant numbers. Guilty Gear Strive is also still going strong at third, though the real pleasant surprise has been Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, setting a franchise record for entrants at this year’s tournaments. I’d love to see the Granblue fans really win some more folks over with a stellar Top 6 to open Sunday, and Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes should also be a fun time the night before.

Saturday night is going to end strong with the Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Top 6, though. As this year’s throwback game, garnering 1,101 entrants alone is already a testament to the long-lasting legacy of 3rd Strike. Older players will likely clash against new talent, and we could easily see a bracket full of titans.

All in all, it should be a packed weekend if you enjoy watching two players beat the health bar out of each other. Expect reveals, stunning matches, and more than a few pop-offs. Evo 2024 gets underway on July 19, at 10 a.m. PT.