SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (“SIE”) and RTS, a new venture born out of Endeavor’s esports business, announced today that they have acquired the assets and properties of the Evolution Championship Series (“Evo”), the world’s largest fighting game event, from Triple Perfect, Inc., through a joint venture esports partnership.
Through this new partnership, Tony and Tom Cannon, co-founders of Evo, will continue to be closely involved as key advisors to ensure that Evo remains a one-of-a-kind, grassroots competitive platform for fighting game players and fans around the globe. This collaboration will propel Evo even further as the premier fighting game tournament and foster the continued growth of the competitive gaming community on all platforms.
With the support of world-class publishers, Evo is returning this year as Evo Online, a fully online competition taking place August 6 - 8 and 13 - 15. Entry will be free, and players in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America* will be able to compete in BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment’s Tekken 7, Capcom’s Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, Warner Bros. Games’ Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate**, and Arc System Works’ Guilty Gear™ -Strive- in an open format. The online qualifiers will be livestreamed for fans, and more details will be shared in the coming weeks on evo.gg.
“Fighting games have been a vital part of PlayStation’s legacy and our community since the very beginning, and we’ve been thrilled to partner with Evo over the years,” said Steven Roberts, VP, Global Competitive Gaming, SIE. “This joint acquisition with RTS marks a new chapter of collaboration with Evo’s co-founders, Tom and Tony Cannon, and their passionate community of fighting game fans.”
“Evo is a unique and iconic community unlike any other in the fighting game space, and we’re proud to be partnering with the SIE team and the legends that are Tom and Tony—as well as Mark Julio as Head of Business Development—to help grow Evo,” said Stuart Saw, CEO, RTS. “We’ve got so many exciting plans in store for this year and beyond.”
“Tom and I are incredibly excited by the partnership with SIE and RTS,” said Tony Cannon, co-founder of Evo. “Both companies bring a wealth of experience and share our passion for what makes the fighting game community so great. We are looking forward to working with them to launch Evo to the next level while remaining true to our roots.”
As a result of the acquisition, Evo will be operated by the recently formed joint venture between SIE and RTS. Terms of this transaction including the acquisition cost and ownership split of the joint venture are not disclosed due to contractual commitments.
* Players in the following locations are eligible to participate: United States, Canada, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Ireland, UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Western Russia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
** Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate will only operate in North America, Europe and Latin America regions.
About Sony Interactive Entertainment
Recognized as a global leader in interactive and digital entertainment, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is responsible for the PlayStation® brand and family of products and services. PlayStation has delivered innovation to the market since the launch of the original PlayStation in Japan in 1994. The PlayStation family of products and services include PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®VR, PlayStation™Store, PlayStation®Plus, PlayStation™Video, PlayStation™Music, PlayStation™Now, and acclaimed PlayStation software titles from SIE Worldwide Studios. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, SIE is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation and has global functions in California, London, and Tokyo.
About RTS
RTS is a new esports venture backed by investors including global entertainment, sports and content company Endeavor. With expertise spanning esports event management, brand and developer consulting and gaming talent management, RTS is led by CEO Stuart Saw, previously Endeavor’s SVP of Esports.
About Evo
The Evolution Championship Series (Evo) represents the largest and longest-running fighting game tournaments of the world. Evo brings together the best of the best from around the world in an electric exhibition of skill and fun, as players and fans gather to honor the competitive spirit in an open format and see a champion made before their eyes. Evo was founded in 2002 after a series of local arcade tournaments run by Tom and Tony Cannon were first held in 1996.
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