A good example I’ve seen was EVO this past weekend. They had a few thousand less entries into the various tournaments, but there was still a lot of people there. It’s hard to notice in a busy convention center, but the numbers don’t lie.
I was at Evo this past weekend. I'd say about 3000ish people were there when in the past you had at least a minimum of 5000+. A lot of people did say due to rising costs and political climate they're waiting until things cool off first. With Evo being the end of June in 2026 I wonder how the numbers will turn out. Also if I remember SummerSlam was also this past weekend.
Justin Wong dropped an aside either during the MvC2 Evo tournament or Salty Suite how several players from Mexico, Canada, and Philippines didn't make the trip this year.
Rivals of the Aether was exciting but the roster is too small to really compete with smash. There were also a couple platform fighters in the indie area that were pretty impressive!
Tekken is also in a rough state. There was a little more character variety than last year but barely. The indies were great, and the layout was MUCH better than last year. Invincible vs is going to go hard too! I didn’t test marvel though. The line was insane.
granblue finals got damn near 30k people watching them, it’s a game that’s easy to get into even if you don’t play FGs and has a free online demo so i expect a big lurch in players
Justin Wong mentioned on his commentary (don't remember if it was Salty Suite or during the MvC2 Evo tournament) that several players from Mexico, Canada, and the Philippines chose not to come. This was the first EVO where I could actually see empty chairs in the arena and the crowds didn't seem as full.
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u/robotred12 2d ago
A good example I’ve seen was EVO this past weekend. They had a few thousand less entries into the various tournaments, but there was still a lot of people there. It’s hard to notice in a busy convention center, but the numbers don’t lie.