Feature: 4 Big Reasons Why You Should Watch Evo 2025 This Weekend

Evo 2025 is just around the corner, and the world's biggest annual fighting game event promises to be a true spectacle for a number of key reasons this year.

We don't want to jump the gun and say that the fighting game scene is at a crossroads, but Evo is always a great barometer for how "healthy" the current crop of titles is. And it can help us gauge what the future holds for both ongoing games and upcoming releases.

With this in mind, we thought it'd be interesting to look at four of the biggest talking points that surround Evo 2025, as we hurtle towards the weekend.

Can Fatal Fury Punch Above Its Weight?

There are so many factors to consider when it comes to determining the overall success of Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. The celebrated revival of a classic series, this modernised effort from SNK is one of Evo 2025's four main games, with its top 8 finals taking place on the final day of the event.

Now, granted, City of the Wolves' April release date was perfectly positioned; it's the new (but technically very old) kid on the block, and everyone wants to get in on the ground floor and see whether the game has what it takes to stick around over the coming years.

Indeed, plenty of Evo first-timers have been one-hit-wonders, their tournament entrant numbers tailing off after that initial hype and honeymoon phase, eventually finding themselves way down the pecking order in the years that follow their debut.

It goes without saying that SNK itself is no stranger to this trend. Both Samurai Shodown and King of Fighters 15 struggled to establish themselves on the biggest stage.

By most accounts, City of the Wolves has the technical prowess to be a success under the Evo spotlights, but keeping pace with genre giants like Street Fighter and Tekken is a very tall order.

We know that SNK's Saudi owners have the money to back a serious push for popularity — just look at City of the Wolves' absurd marketing campaign pre-launch — but it'll still need an attractive Evo showing to get people onboard, and so its pro players will need to step up.

The Guilty Gear Dilemma

From the outside looking in, it feels like Arc System Works is a little undecided on how it wants to move forward with Guilty Gear as a series.

Guilty Gear Strive has been a monumental success for the Japanese developer, expanding the series' reach to previously unfathomable levels while also establishing a sizeable, long-lasting competitive community. We're now four years out from Strive's initial release, and it remains one of Evo's heaviest hitters — the event's de facto 'anime' fighter.

However, as alluded, the future of Guilty Gear seems surprisingly murky. A recent report from reputable sources claimed that a new Guilty Gear project was cancelled, leading to all kinds of speculation about the studio's direction.

While we simply don't know enough about that supposed project to jump to any major conclusions, we do know that Arc System Works is in the process of rejigging its internal structure. Obviously, it wants — and probably needs — Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls to be a blockbuster, and so that has to take priority.

So, does the next Guilty Gear enter production after Marvel Tokon? And just how much longer will the developer continue to support Guilty Gear Strive?

The game's about to wrap up its fourth season of DLC — with its first ever guest character in Lucy from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, no less — but producer Ken Miyauchi has already confirmed that there are "big" plans for Strive going forward.

Taking all of this into account, Evo 2025 should give us a much better idea of where Guilty Gear is headed. We're all but guaranteed to finally see Lucy in action, but we certainly wouldn't rule out a tease for what's next.

The Fate of Tekken 8

The "fall" of Tekken 8 has made for a fascinating watch. This is a game that's still pulling perfectly healthy player counts and is set to have the second biggest tournament at Evo 2025 — and yet the vibes surrounding Tekken 8 have been off for months.

The title released to rave reviews and a rabid fanbase that was far beyond ready to leave the ageing Tekken 7 behind. Barring some questionable balancing issues and a smattering of crazy bugs — which were soon sorted out — Tekken 8 was a direct hit over its first few weeks on the market.

But when gameplay concerns from pro players started to take shape, and Bandai Namco began to implement crappy microtransactions, Tekken 8 suddenly found itself on a very slippery slope.

The months that followed saw things shake out a bit as the competitive scene clicked into gear, and it was mostly smooth sailing for the game, despite dropping the ball with boring DLC characters (Heihachi not included).

Then came 2025, and the advent of Season 2. This update dealt an unprecedented blow to the Tekken community, as the developer doubled down on the hyperaggressive mechanics that players had been questioning for the best part of a year.

Bandai Namco has tried to pull things back with a flurry of 'emergency' patches, and while the game has improved, many would argue that it's still far from being in an ideal state — especially this close to Evo.

The Tekken 8 we have right now is the Tekken 8 that pro players will be attempting to dominate at Evo 2025, and so this really does feel like a make-or-break moment for the game.

If we're treated to a rock solid tournament where the usual suspects are able to duke it out in typically dramatic sets, then the Tekken 8 narrative may shift towards positivity; there's light at the end of the tunnel, and Armor King is ready to lead us there.

But if we get a tournament that's packed with abusable moves and repeat character selections... Well, let's just say that Season 3 better be an absolute world-beater.

A Marvelous Future for Fighting Games

There's no doubt about it: Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls has the potential to be the biggest fighting game of its generation — and all eyes will be on its Evo 2025 showing.

A lot of first impressions are going to be made over this coming weekend — and they count for so much in this industry. While we have unwavering faith in the Guilty Gear and Dragon Ball FighterZ developer, fighting game fanatics will be going hands-on with Tokon at Evo 2025 thanks to a playable build, and it needs to maintain the hype that it's been riding since its surprise reveal back in June.

Everyone wants to see what Arc System Works has been cooking, and if the PlayStation-backed studio plays its cards right, we could be heading into 2026 with nothing but optimism for the immediate future of fighting games.

Is it too much to ask for a release date announcement at Evo 2025? Probably, although it should be noted that if the plan is to get Marvel Tokon locked in for its own tournament at next year's event, then it'll need to launch within the first six months or so of 2026. And that's a lot closer than you might think.

Anyway, our point here is that Evo 2025 could give us a our first real glimpse at the genre's next juggernaut — a game that could set the tone for years to come. It's an exciting time to be a fighting game fan.

Will you be watching Evo 2025? Which game are you most looking forward to keeping up with? Let us know your plans for the weekend in the comments section below.