Fighting game festival EVO Japan 2024 will be held in Ariake

EVO Japan 2024 was held at Ariake GYM-EX for three days from April 27th to 29th, 2024.
As it was a fighting game festival, many fighting game players gathered from all over the world.

This time, I would like to introduce an event report from EVO Japan 2024.
In this article, we will mainly introduce information about tournaments, including main and side events.
The next article will focus on events that can be enjoyed by people other than players, such as sponsoring companies and merchandise sales.

↓Click here to see last year's EVO Japan

I went to the fighting game festival EVO JAPAN 2023

EVO Japan 2023 will be held at Ariake GYM-EX

Starting this time, the venue has changed to Ariake GYM-EX.
Various new fighting games have been released, and the main titles have also changed dramatically.
It seems like there are more and more fighting game players now, partly because famous streamers are playing them.

Perhaps because of this, I got the impression that there were many events held that could be enjoyed by people other than players.
The last event was held over two days, but this one is being held over three days, which shows the change in the number of participants.

Tournament qualifying

There are seven main titles this time.
The total number of participants must have easily exceeded 1.
I think the timetable was well organized, but the venue was simply packed with people.

Is the venue a little smaller than when it was held at Big Sight? Or are there really more people?
This time, players were required to purchase tickets to participate, but even so, there were still this many people...
Fighting games have become so popular that it's actually a little scary, but it's also a good thing.

I think the peak number of people was around noon.
There was a mix of tournaments, new game trial sessions, merchandise sales, and more, so it was hard to even walk.
By the way, on the first day, there was a long queue for official merchandise sales that stretched all the way outside the entrance.

This is what the venue looked like when it was at its maximum capacity.

Perhaps because EVO Japan was sponsored by Sony, PS5 and INZONE products were used.
Both the monitor and headset are high quality, so I think even PC players will be able to play without any discomfort.

That being said, if you're using a homemade arcade stick, you'll need to use a converter, so I'm wondering what the best environment is.
Aside from the monitor, one of the advantages of home consoles is that the battle environment can be almost the same as at home.
The only downside is that the cable wasn't long enough, so I had to play it on a table.

Side event

From here on, we will bring you reports on side events (including tournaments).
Please note that we are mainly focusing on things that caught our eye, so we cannot introduce everything.

・Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
The latest installment in the Fatal Fury series! Rock, we've been waiting for this!

・2XKO
LoL fighting game. Profitable companies have big things to do!

I met the famous Punk.

・MGCM Combat Edition
A fighting game based on Magikami. I'm really interested in what the game is about.


I also went to see the final.

・Justice Academy
Akira appeared in Street Fighter V, so can we look forward to the next installment?

I like that it's being played on an arcade cabinet, not on PS or Dreamcast.

・Pop'n Music
Pop'n is a fighting game


・Taiko Master
Taiko no Tatsujin is also a fighting game?!

・Touhou Hisotenzoku
This too has a long history.

The commentator was very friendly and I got the sense that he really loved the game.

・Vampire Savior
This fighting game is so nostalgic that it brings back memories of the arcades of those days.
It's a title that has captured people's hearts, and there are still people who love it even now in the Reiwa era.

Fighting games will soon become a popular hobby for the general public!

With the excitement surrounding EVO Japan, I felt that it was being accepted by a wider audience.
The enthusiasm of existing fighting game players is already high, but it also seems like there has been a significant increase in new players.
This is one year from now...we'll see what happens.

For now, the venue felt a little cramped.
Do something!