Evo Unveils Plans for Singapore 2027 As It Continues Global Expansion

LAS VEGAS (June 28, 2026) - Evolution Championship Series (known as Evo), the largest and longest-running open-invite fighting game festival, concluded its flagship event tonight, Evo Las Vegas presented by Chipotle®, with competitors and fans from 53 countries, unveiling details for its inaugural Evo Singapore. As part of its global expansion, fans will gather in Singapore on January 15-17, 2027, at Marina Bay Sands to compete across multiple fighting game titles and celebrate the fighting game community and culture. Tickets and player registrations will be open at a later date when the final game lineup is announced. 

Evo Singapore will also host the TEKKEN World Tour (TWT) Finals, with group stages starting on January 14, followed by the Last Chance Qualifier and culminating in the Grand Finals. Since 2017, TWT has been organized by its developer Bandai Namco Entertainment. Each TWT season allows players to earn points by participating in TEKKEN 8 tournaments held at fighting game events worldwide, culminating with this special event featuring the highest-scoring players of the season. 

Evo also unveiled its Evo Locals Program and committed more than $1 million in grants and partnership programs supporting community-focused organizers across the globe. Applications will open this fall.  

“From day one, Evo has always been about the community that is so diverse around the globe,” said Stuart Saw, CEO of RTS, who owns and operates Evo. "The FGC is for everyone, and it all starts at your local. Our goal with our Evo Locals Program is to help the community solve their challenges, from equipment to player connectivity, and help build the next generation of fighting game competitors and fans." 

Following the massive success of its sold-out inaugural European edition, Evo France returns to the Palais des Expositions in Nice on October 9–11, 2026. The second annual event features an expanded 8-game lineup with 3 major new titles and increased venue capacity to welcome an even larger community by offering an additional 1,000 tickets per day.

The official Evo France 2026 Tournament Lineup includes:

• Sony Interactive Entertainment’s MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls (New game)
• Riot Games’ 2XKO (1st time in official competition)
• Gameplay Group International and PM Studios’ Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game (New game)
• Capcom’s Street Fighter 6
• Bandai Namco Entertainment’s Tekken 8
• Arc System Works’ Guilty Gear -Strive-
• Cygames’ Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
• SNK’s Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

Looking ahead to 2027, Evo Japan returns on April 30 to May 2 at Tokyo Big Sight. The GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS officially declared the largest tournament for a single fighting videogame, consisting of 7,168 Street Fighter 6 competitors, during Evo Japan 2026 presented by Levtech, in May 2026. 

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas over the weekend and for the first time, player registrations determined who competed on the Arena Stage and Showcase Stage, who competed for a share of a minimum guaranteed prize pool of $500,000 across all titles. 

Evo Champions on the Arena Stage included:

Dominican Saul Leonardo "MenaRD" Mena II solidified his name in Evo lore winning back-to-back titles on Street Fighter 6 by Capcom after beating Japan’s Kazuma “Shigematsu” Shigematsu 3-0 in a Grand Finals Reset. MenaRD is now a 4-time Evo Champion.

Pakistan’s Arslan “Arslan Ash” Ash became an 8-time Evo Champion and won TEKKEN 8 by Bandai Namco Entertainment for the fourth-straight year at Evo Las Vegas, defeating Japan’s Hyunko “Rangchu” Jung in a thriller 3-2. Arslan Ash hoisted the TEKKEN 8 trophy at Evo France in 2025, and also won the 2026 Evo Award for Player of the Year.

American Jo’siah “Hikari” Miller from Long Island, NY, completed the ultimate comeback through the losers’ brackets to beat 8-time Evo Champion Dominique “SonicFox” McLean from Seattle and his duo partner Lenwood “INZEM” Arnold from Raleigh, NC in the Grands Finals Reset 3-1, to become an Evo Champion on 2XKO by Riot Games. Hikari also hoisted the 2XKO trophy in Japan in May as the game made its first appearance in Japan and now Las Vegas.

Justin "Plup" McGrath from Orlando, Fla., held off Alexander “CakeAssault” Strobel from Richmond, Va., in a thrilling 3-2 Grand Finals of Rivals of Aether II by Aether Studios to become a back-to-back Evo Champion. 

American Nathan “REDDITTO” Chan became a first-time Evo Champion on Guilty Gear -Strive- by Arc System Works after defeating Ismaila “Verix” Gueye from Senegal 3-1. The Monterery Park, California gamer captured his trophy after resounding victories through the top 8 winners’ brackets.

American Mattieu Kojo “Kojicoco” Fardet became a back-to-back Evo Champion on Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising by Cygames, defeating Japan’s Shio 3-2 in a Grand Finals Reset. The Houston, Tx., resident fought his way to the title through the loser’s bracket again to hoist the trophy. 

Evo Champions on the Showcase Stage included:

China’s Xiao “Xiaohai” Hai became a 7-time Evo Champion overcoming Japan’s Kenta “MI2HA4” Ichihara in the Grand Finals Reset 3-1 on Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves by SNK. Xiaohai is considered to be the greatest The King of Fighters player of all time, with 4 Evo Championships, and now adds three more on Fatal Fury winning at Evo France 2025, Evo Japan 2026 and now in Las Vegas.

Japan’s Yuya “Akuri_” Tsukada became a first-time Evo Champion beating American Drew “Zippy” Stakelum from Morristown, NJ, 3-2 in the Grand Finals on INVINCIBLE VS by Skybound Games. Akuri_ beat Zippy in the Winner’s Semi-Final 2-0, as INVINCIBLE VS made its first appearance at Evo Las Vegas.

Mitsuru “Kaji” Kajisha from Japan became an Evo Champion on Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire by Capcom winning 3-0 over Japan’s Yousuke “Nakanishi” Nakanishi. Kaji won Vampire Savior at Evo Japan 2026 in May. The game made its first appearance in Las Vegas.

Yuya “Fukku” Komatsu from Japan beat his fellow country man Shoji “Rascal Fenritti” Sho in a 3-0 sweep in the Grand Finals of BlazBlue Centralfiction by Arc System Works to become a first-time Evo Champion. Fukku beat Rascal Fenritti in the Winner’s Final 3-0 to take home his hardware.

American Izayah "BigBlack" Davis battled fellow American Randy “Knotts” Chea in a thrilling 3-2 Grand Finals Reset to become a first-time Evo Champion on Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes by Arc System Works. BigBlack, from Palm Bay, Fla., found redemption after finishing as a runner-up in 2025 at Evo Las Vegas. 

In Virtua Fighter 5: REVO World Stage by Sega AM2, American Avery “GentlemanThief” Carey defeated Japan’s “Gakusei Sarah” 3-2 to become a first-time Evo Champion. The Sarasota, Fla., resident finally took home his trophy after competing in eight Evos.  

In the inaugural Evo Flash Tournaments presented by Visa, more than1,500 participants competed and won numerous prizes throughout the experience playing 2XKO, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Street Fighter 6, TEKKEN 8, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, Grablue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Guilty Gear -Strive-, Rivals of Aether II, Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes, Virtua Fighter 5: REVO World, Footsies, Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo, DragonBall Fighterz, and Vampire Savior: The Lord of the Vampire.

Beyond the competition, Evo fans discovered a jammed-packed Show Floor, including the fan-favorite Evo Museum and its debut of a statue and collectibles exhibit, Artist Alley, Evo Arcade Presented By Voodoo Ranger with the new High Score Tournaments, Evo Showcase with industry-leading panels and gameplay exhibition matches, featured artists Masami Obari and Shoei Okano, expanded Gacha Machines with additional prizing, Evo Legends Meet & Greet Powered by Qiddiya with Daigo and MenaRD joined by teammates from Team REJECT and Bandits, new FGC Waypoint area with LED Photo Wall featuring backdrops from fighting games, AND Casual Lounges.

Evo also recognized its top 8 during it Cosplay Contest for best prop, judge’s choices, and the top 4, with Invisigoth’s “Ingrid” winning first place with prize money and a trip to any Evo globally, and also featured an exhibition with Stella Chu joining the judges.

Evo also welcomed its fans to test out the emerging games from its curated Indie Developers, who aspire to have their titles on future Evo Arena and Showcase Stages. They include (title, developer): Battle Dudes (jay_ts), BreakThrough (ShatterPoint Games), Burning Souls (Maguma), Combo Devils (Punkzilla), Cooking Fist (Spaghetti Code LLC), Heavenly Parasite (Invasive Labs), KNOCKOUT ARCADE (Inspired Pixel Games LLC), KONSUI FIGHTER (Circean Studio), Pip Puzzle (ThirdWheelGames), Royalty Free-For-All (AAAA Games), RUSH (Alcratz), and Scramble Heart City (M Paul Games).

RTS, owner and operator of Evo, acknowledged its partners who helped make Evo Las Vegas presented by Chipotle the most expansive event experience yet, including Chipotle, Visa, AT&T, Sandisk, Qiddiya, Voodoo Ranger, Airheads, Aniplex, Nacon, Red Bull, Sony PlayStation, Sony INZONE, Suzuki, UVS, White Claw, and Zenni.

Fans also watched Evo online worldwide on Twitch at twitch.tv/evo and YouTube at youtube.com/@evoevents.