EVO Japan Has A Pretty Big Line-Up For Early 2018

We just got through a pretty amazing EVO 2017 event, with the final Street Fighter V match-up between Punk and Tokido being the stuff of legend. But the organizers have an even bigger event lined up early next year for Japan, and have already revealed the game line-up we can expect once that kicks off.

This will mark the first time that an EVO event has taken place outside of the United States, bringing together some of the best fighting fans from around the world to compete in a number of games. And there are plenty to choose from, including the following:

• Tekken 7
• Guilty Gear Xrd: Rev 2
• The King of Fighters XIV
• BlazBlue: Central Fiction
• Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
• Street Fighter V
• ARMS

A lot of those games are staples within the EVO universe, but this will mark the first time that Nintendo’s arm-extending fighting game will be playable in a tournament, and we’ll no doubt see some major competitors step up and try to smack some players around.

The trailer for the forthcoming event, which will take place from January 26th through the 28th in 2018, can be seen above. It’s pretty brief, but it does paint a picture of what kind of excitement we can expect from the event. And with that, we can’t wait to see the fighting action that’ll happen, as it’s likely to be live-streamed, just like this weekend’s past event was.

But the real question is if we’ll see some more games added to the roster. After all, there’s a pretty good chance that Bandai Namco’s Dragon Ball FighterZ may be released around that time, and we’ll also have Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite available as well, although it’s likely EVO will be saving those games for their main tournament when it takes place back in the U.S.A. next summer.

Whatever the case, seeing ARMS in competitive action should be quite a sight, signifying Nintendo’s push to make it more of a favorite at events such as this. We’ll see how it turns out when EVO Japan takes place in just a few months’ time.