In a surprising announcement, Sony has revealed it’s acquisition of Evolution Championship Series (Evo) in a joint partnership with RTS.

Originally founded in 1996, Evo began as a small fighting game tournament that sparked a renaissance for the genre. Now more than two decades later, the tournament has become an annual event within the gaming community that finds itself featured on the front page of every mainstream video game publication when airing.

As the world’s largest and longest-running fighting game tournament, Evo is home to the most competitive players who broadcast their skill in front of millions each year. This year will be no different, as the blog indicates that Evo will be returning in 2021 via ‘Evo Online’ and will run from August 6-8 and 13-15.

Not much is known how this new acquisition will effect the future of Evo, however Sony has admitted that their sole vision is tied to “preserving the authenticity of Evo for the fighting game community and finding creative ways, alongside our fans, to grow the tournament and make its events and broadcasts more fun, engaging and accessible than ever.” (Source: sie.com)

For now, it seems this acquisition is made primarily with the interest of global reach. As indicated in the blog post, the fighting game community is among one of the largest on the PlayStation platforms. This new endeavour sees Sony committed to breaking down barriers to ensure that Evo events are safe and welcoming for the whole community.

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