Evo added four games to its main lineup this year and still lost a quarter of its entries. That is the number worth sitting with as the Las Vegas Convention Center opens its doors today.
Evo 2026 entries fall 27% in a year as Street Fighter 6 drops 43% and Tekken 8 drops 46%
Evo’s official registration data puts combined entries across the 12 main titles at 8,926. Last year, eight titles produced 12,263. Unique competitors tell a harsher story: 5,774 players are in Vegas this weekend, against 8,541 in 2025, a 32% fall and the steepest single-year drop in the event’s history.
The two pillars took the worst of it. Street Fighter 6 keeps the top slot for a fourth straight year with 2,414 entrants, down from 4,228. Tekken 8 fell from 2,521 to 1,354. Guilty Gear Strive, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves all shrank.
Not everything contracted. Riot’s 2XKO drew 1,080 players for its Vegas debut and took the final Sunday Arena Finals slot. Rivals of Aether 2 pulled 1,022, more than double its 2025 showing. Players will still travel. The question is what for.
Three explanations, one uncomfortable comparison
Evo general manager Rick Thiher pointed at the calendar and the airfare. Moving from August to a June 26 start compressed the registration window and collided with travel plans already made. Las Vegas hotel rates did the rest.
The second explanation is that Evo is competing with itself. Evo Japan in May recorded 7,158 Street Fighter 6 entrants, a Guinness world record for the largest single-game fighting bracket. Its 9,523 total players exceeded the entire Vegas event. Evo France lands in October, and an inaugural Evo Singapore follows. A player in Lyon or Osaka no longer needs a US visa to enter an Evo.
The third is the one Evo has not addressed. In February, Saudi Arabia’s Qiddiya City completed its full acquisition of Evo through RTS, closing a transition that began when Sony sold out. Boycott calls followed from parts of the FGC. Nobody can isolate that variable from the airfare or the date change, and anyone claiming otherwise is guessing.
Registration is not viewership. Brackets run through Sunday, June 28, with the Street Fighter 6 grand final closing the weekend and a $100,000 prize pool waiting. The broadcast numbers arrive next week, and they will settle whether this is a travel problem or something Evo cannot fly its way out of.
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