A member of the audience reacts at Evolution Championship Series 2024. - Photo: EVO/X
SINGAPORE: The Republic will host the 2026 edition of the Evolution Championship Series e-sports tournament, widely regarded among gamers as the “World Cup” of fighting games.
The announcement was made on July 21 (July 22, Singapore time), the final day of the annual competition – also known as Evo – in Las Vegas.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) confirmed that it is working with Evo 2026 organisers to “deliver a compelling and impactful edition” for participants and fans.
“With several highly popular fighting game titles within one marquee tournament, we are excited to host Evo in Singapore in 2026,” said Ong Ling Lee, STB’s executive director for sports and wellness.
Fighting games are a broad genre of video games where players, choosing from a variety of characters, go head-to-head in one-on-one combat.
A player wins when the health points of an opponent’s character deplete to zero, or if he or she has more points when time runs out.
Tournaments featuring such games can be held online or in person.
The most famous franchises of the genre include Street Fighter, Tekken, King Of Fighters and Mortal Kombat.
Evo 2024 in Las Vegas, which had a collective prize purse of US$240,000 (S$321,000), was attended by 20,000 fans and more than 10,000 competitors from 64 countries.
The 2025 edition will be held in Nice, France, marking the first time it will be hosted physically outside the US.
Singapore will be the first Asian country to hold the main Evo tournament in 2026 – not to be confused with Evo Japan, a separate offshoot event that takes place yearly there.
Evo is an open tournament – anyone can sign up to compete. It uses a double-elimination format, where two competitors battle until a winner is determined, who will continue rising through the ranks till the finals.
Prize money, guaranteed to be a minimum US$30,000, is split among the top eight finalists for each game.
Despite the two-year lead-up, the announcement has fired up both professionals and fans.
Ho Kun Xian, who flew Singapore’s flag high in 2013 when he became the first Singaporean winner at Evo, said he would take part in 2026.
Better known by his professional gaming name Xian, he trounced legendary Japanese opponent Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition in Evo 2013.
Ho told The Straits Times that he hopes to work with the authorities and game associations to create a training programme and community space for players to hone their skills before competing on the global stage.
“We have good talent in Singapore and we have the results to prove it. We hope that we are able to work with everyone to achieve our goals,” he added.
Tien Lang, a veteran who has been organising local tournaments since 2009, is excited about the news, even though Singapore has also hosted other prestigious competitions including the South-east Asia Major, Capcom Cup, Tekken World Tour and ARC World Tour.
“The lore and the hype of Evo is still unmatched in the eyes of the wider gaming audience,” said Tien, who goes by the moniker Yagami.
“For pros and former pros, this brings renewed hope and affirmation that the time and effort they’ve put into training will be worth it,” the 40-year-old added.
For many competitive gamers who are not sponsored, cost is a major concern when they have to fly to overseas tournaments, on top of taking time off from day jobs.
Having Evo 2026 in Singapore is nothing short of a miracle to some of them.
Ruslan Abd Rahman, who was the top Tekken 7 player in the SEA Major 2019, said he had been to Evo’s offshoot tournament in Japan, but not the main one in Las Vegas due to cost.
“I’m glad we are chosen as the host country. After all, Singapore has a very strong and passionate fighting game scene,” he said.
Gamer Gavrel Saw has also always wanted to enter the tournament.
“I am very happy that I am able to finally participate and watch it in person instead of just watching it through a screen,” said the 24-year-old, who snagged second place in January’s Douyu SF6 Master Open in Wuhan, China.
Dennis Ooi, president of the Singapore Cybersports & Online Gaming Association (Scoga), is confident of the Republic’s ability to host a high-profile e-sports tournament, given its track record.
The Dota 2 The International, which was held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2022, was attended by 12,000 fans.
An article by gaming business platform Ten.gg estimated that the tournament raked in US$280 million for the country.
“However, what is more valuable is that this (Evo 2026) would help the growing e-sports community in Singapore by fuelling interest in the fighting games genre,” said Ooi.
For a competitive gamer who wants to be known only as Asher, Evo 2026 will be a good “opportunity for the world to have their eyes on Singapore as well as South-East Asian fighting game talent”.
The 28-year-old came in first in the ARC World Tour 2024 Silver Ranking Event: VV Asia Legends.
Organisers told ST that details for Evo 2026 are still being worked out, with more information to be made available closer to the event.
Ong said Evo 2026 will help bolster Singapore’s position as a world-class e-sports destination, and attract travellers who enjoy attending such events.
“We look forward to welcoming them to explore the diverse offerings of Singapore and create unforgettable experiences,” she added. - The Straits Times/ANN
