EVO is the ultimate showpiece event for fighting game enthusiasts. We all got to enjoy a weekend full of virtual beat downs as the world’s most talented fighting game professionals went toe-to-toe and proved their supremacy in eight different titles. But, that’s not the only reason we mark our calendars in anticipation of the tournament every year. EVO is the biggest stage of fighting games in the world and developers unsurprisingly save up their best announcements of the year for this very special occasion. This year’s competition was no exception to that tradition as we got treated to a number of DLC announcements, new releases and character reveals. Of all the news coming out of Las Vegas last month, we have shortlisted five most talked about announcements of EVO 2019.
SAMURAI SHODOWN NEW DLC CHARACTERS AND SEASON 2 ANNOUNCEMENT
Five more Samurai Shodown characters are headed your way and they will be made available one by one each month for the rest of this year. The first of these characters, Rimururu, has already been released on August 7 and umbrella boy Shizumaru Hisame is set to make his mark this month. Here’s the complete schedule for all character releases:
- Rimururu (August) (Ainu priestess, capable of hearing the voice of the Sacred Spirit and can control the ice spirit Konril, possesses special ice powers)
- Shizumaru Hisame (September) (a traveler, can shield himself from attacks with his umbrella and also redirect projectiles at his enemies)
- Basara (October) (a yurei, slays demons, controls the soul of Nue, can disappear into the shadows, capable of creating mirror images of himself)
- Kazuki Kazama (November) (a nukenin, has special fire powers and teleportation abilities, also capable of creating mirror images of himself)
- Wan-Fu (December) (Qing Dynasty general, has super strength, can take out targets from a distance by throwing his weapons as projectiles, can attack with fire)
SNK have also confirmed the arrival of Samurai Shodown season 2 which is slated for a 2020 release. Exorcist Mina Majikina has been named as the first new character for the upcoming season.
SOUL CALIBUR 6 SEASON 2 PASS AND NEW CHARACTER RELEASE
Soul Calibur 6 will extend its journey to a new season with new characters and customizable content. Four new characters will be added in the next edition, but the developers have only confirmed the inclusion of Samurai Shodown character Haohmaru so far. Besides promising new DLC avatars, the new game is also expected to have a new system in place. Warring maiden Cassandra, a DLC character for the game’s current version, was also announced at EVO 2019 before her August 6th release.
STREET FIGHTER V: ARCADE EDITION DLC CHARACTERS UNVEILED
Capcom announced three new DLC characters in the forms of Poison, E. Honda and Lucia for Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition. These characters have joined the list of the game’s playable characters on August 4th. In order to be unlocked, each of these characters would cost you $5.99 or 100,000 fight money. The announcement was an expected one as a trailer featuring the new characters briefly went live on the game’s Steam page days before EVO 2019. Here’s a brief character breakdown –
· Poison: A self taught acrobatic fighter who packs a whip to add range to her attacking threats.
· E.Honda: Edmond Honda is a sumo fighter who can take in as much pain as he can inflict.
· Lucia: Lucia Morgan is a diligent police officer who uses her advanced kenpo and self defense techniques to keep the streets of Metro City safe. Besides exploiting her physical combat abilities, she also uses a baton to fight her battles.
TEKKEN 7 SEASON PASS 3
As the Tekken 7 hype remains stronger than ever, Bandai Namco Studios have rewarded the game’s devoted fans with some exciting news at EVO 2019. Tekken 7 season 3 went live earlier this month with significant tweaks to the game’s previous incarnations including a new user interface, greater practice functionality, and updated play stats display. Each of the characters received at least one new move and the game will get four new DLC characters throughout the entirety of season pass 3. Only two of the characters have been revealed until now, with Egyptian warrior Zafina reprising her role from Tekken 6. Leroy Smith is the other character who has never appeared in any Tekken titles before. To learn more about the new update, read the official Tekken 7 season 3 patch notes released by the developers.
NEW UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH GAME ANNOUNCED
A trailer for Under Night In-Birth: Exe:Late[cl-r], the next entry to the Under Night In-Birth series, was shown to the EVO crowd much to their delight. Other than the 2020 release and introduction to a new character, not much information was given away at the screening. The platforms and pricing were not discussed at the event, but it was later confirmed that the game will be available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Londrekia Light will be the new character making his debut on the series. Londrekia is an eminent member of Ritter Schild who comes to Japan on a mission to track down and eliminate a Void named Merkava.
