The Evolution Championship Series is back on the global stage from May 1 to 3 in Tokyo as Evo Japan 2026 kicks off with 12 main games, dozens of side events, and some record-setting action ready to step into the spotlight.

In its seventh iteration, Evo Japan is nearly doubling its tournament roster, welcoming the biggest fighting game franchises in the world along with several classics. This includes the largest Street Fighter tournament ever, a revamped look for Guilty Gear -Strive-, and some outlandish fun coming from titles like Hokuto no Ken.

Every Evo Japan 2026 Tournament and how to watch

With an expanded lineup, Evo Japan 2026 will feature multiple official streams, co-streams, and other ways for you to enjoy as much fighting game action as you want all weekend long. This includes broadcasts for the tournament streams, side tournaments, special events like the cosplay contest, and more starting on May 1.

Unlike in previous Evo Japan events, every main stage title this year will feature a full tournament bracket and individual prizing, rather than some games being included with special formats like five-on-five team events. In total, over 10,000 players have registered to compete at Evo Japan 2026 according to start.gg

Here is the full list of main event games for Evo Japan this year, ordered by player count:(Final entrant numbers may be subject to change)

Street Fighter 6: 7,166
TEKKEN 8: 877
Guilty Gear -Strive-: 740
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising: 556
FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves: 433
2XKO: 428
Vampire Savior: 305
THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV: 277
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage: 196
MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA: 185
UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes: 162
Hokuto no Ken: 154

As for how to watch, most of the action will be streamed live on the official Evo channels, including Twitch and YouTube for English broadcasts starting at around 6pm PDT every day.

Day one will feature mostly pool play, with Top 8 for Hokuto no Ken, UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes, and 2XKO all broadcasting at the end of the day. Only TEKKEN 8 and Street Fighter 6 will have their final streams on Sunday, with the remaining seven games spread out across Saturday’s schedule. You can view a full schedule on the official Evo Japan website and social media channels, or reference the image below.

Outside of the main games, there are more than 60 side events running live from Evo Japan. Not all of them will have official streams, but members of the FGC community like PolarBair have created a document featuring information on as many side events as possible, including entry details, stream locations, and start times so you can keep up with any content that interests you throughout the weekend.

What to watch at Evo Japan 2026

Street Fighter 6 is bigger than ever

Heading into the final stage of its third year, Street Fighter 6 continues to be the dominant fighting game on the market, with this year’s Evo Japan lineup reaching 7,166 total entrants. This puts it as the biggest fighting game tournament bracket in history, surpassing the previous record of 7,083 players set by Evo 2023 in Las Vegas for SF6’s debut.

This massive turnout means nearly all of the top SF6 players in the world are attending, hoping to dethrone MenaRD, who is looking to become the first player to ever threepeat as an Evo Japan champion after his triumph over Daigo at Evo Legends Live

Maybe we will see Ryukichi run it back for a rematch of last year’s finals or Sahara claim his second major of the year after winning Capcom Cup 12. Whoever does win will walk away with $12,000 and direct invites to compete at Capcom Cup 13 and the Esports World Cup 2026.

SF6 players will also have more to look forward to after the event, as Ingrid will make her return to the franchise as the final Year 3 DLC fighter on May 28, and we should hear more about the next season of content soon.

Who is who in TEKKEN 8?

While Street Fighter is taking the spotlight, TEKKEN 8’s Evo Japan bracket is shaping up to be a clash of the game’s biggest names trying to reassert themselves.

LowHigh enters the event as arguably the favorite to win it all, having claimed the TEKKEN World Tour Finals 2025 along with several other top finishes over the last 12 months. Last year’s Evo Japan was one of his lowest placements in any major TEKKEN 8 event, and he is looking to get back to the podium to improve on his second place finish from 2024.

Standing in his way are the likes of reigning Evo Japan champion Knee, 2026 Player of the Year Arslan Ash, and more than 800 other hungry combatants such as Mulgold, Chikurin, and Mangja. The winner will be invited to compete at the TEKKEN World Tour Finals 2026 and Esports World Cup 2026.

Guilty Gear -Strive- enters a new era

Beware all who enter, because the Guilty Gear -Strive- action you will be seeing at Evo Japan 2026 is one of the first major tournaments featuring Jam Kuradoberi and the new 2.0 version of the game, which launched on April 9. This means new moves, battle mechanics, and strategies will all be on display as Daru_I-No looks to defend his title.

GOBOU will try to get a second Evo Japan win this year, Nitro is coming in hot off a second place finish at the ARC World Tour Finals, and both tatuma and MetallicCake want to claim the top spot on the global stage.

One character to keep an eye on in particular this weekend is Happy Chaos, who has been making waves in GGST 2.0 due to the discovery of a powerful blockstring technique that has already proven to be tournament viable when reigning ARC World Tour champion Jack used it to win a recent Tampa Never Sleeps online event.

It'll be interesting to see if this strategy dominates the bracket this weekend or if players have developed counter-play to prevent too much chaos from overwhelming the bracket.

Watching TNS and I cannot believe @ArcSystemWorksU said THIS IS GOING TO BE LEGAL AT EVO JAPAN LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL pic.twitter.com/1I8AFCo1UR
— Diaphone (@Diaphone_) April 21, 2026

Can the Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising dream continue?

While not all of the top talent who made the ARC World Tour Finals for Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising a thrilling watch will be in attendance, Zangief_Dream is looking to add another major piece of hardware to his expanding cabinet this year.

After falling just short last year, Zangief_Dream is coming into Evo Japan 2026 with nothing but top three placements in his bag since, including the ARC World Tour 2025/26 title. He will need to go through tough matchups with the reigning Evo Japan winner Kasausagi, gamera, and Shio to get there though. Kasausagi will likely be his biggest hurdle, even though their most recent bout ended in ZD’s favor at LAGLESS CUP 2025 back in December.

New streets to walk in FATAL FURY

In its first official showing at Evo Japan, FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves has over 400 competitors and a fresh patch as part of the game’s first anniversary. That includes Wolfgang Krauser being playable as of April 24, when he released as part of a major update to the game.

This will be the largest CotW tournament by far to this point in, and the path to the throne is wide open for a field of top level competitors looking to stake their claim. This includes legendary players like GO1 and xiaohai who have been quietly preparing, top talent such as ZJZ and lokof, along with the current SNK World champion, Laggia.

The winner will take home $15,000 and a guaranteed spot at this year’s SNK World Championships and Esports World Cup. And, don’t forget many of the same top talent will be playing in King of Fighters XV, which is a main stage title this year too.

2XKO hits the big time

2XKO is making its Evo main stage debut at Evo Japan this year, and it will be one of the most interesting tournaments to watch from both a talent perspective and the odd nature of the game itself.

Heading into the event, there is still a split between players competing as individuals like a normal tag game, or playing together with a duo. Of the most notable entrants, only two duos are listed, that being the two most dominant pairings in the world, Haru and Toshi along with SonicFox and INZEM.

Up to this point, most events have been won by players opting to go solo, but the aforementioned dynamic duos are almost always in the hunt, and have won a few events too. Most recently, SonicFox and INZEM took first place at Texas Showdown, and now they will try to further prove the validity of the duo approach at the biggest 2XKO tournament yet.

Of course, they will have to go through many of the top players in the world such as Hikari, Supernoon, bleed, and ikoan to do so.

French-Bread on the menu!

French-Bread, and by extension Arc System Works, is getting some extra love this year with both UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes and MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA appearing on the main stage this year.

UNI2 hasn’t been on the main stage since 2024, but Kyo is returning to try and keep the crown after a fifth place finish at the ARC World Tour Finals in March. Unfortunately, most of the international talent from that event won’t be present, though Senaru, oushuu-hittou, MIYAGI Muteki, and BigBlack won’t make it easy on the reigning champ.

Meanwhile, Kjiro will get the chance to defend his Evo Japan 2023 MELTY BLOOD title as the game makes its first appearance outside of side events in three years. ScrawtVermillion and Magicrider are also making the trip over to give the Japanese contingent a run for their money. Classics by any other name… on repeat.

Rounding out the list of games this year are three classics in very different forms, starting with Vampire Savior being the largest of the three in terms of turnout.

Vampire Savior has always been a popular side tournament at fighting game events, including many Evos past. But this year, it is getting a renaissance on the main stage at both Evo Japan and Evo Las Vegas, with two of the largest tournaments ever for the 1997 classic.

On the other hand, Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage is a new coat of paint on the latest entry in SEGA’s OG FGC franchise, and many of the game’s all-time great players are finally getting some time to shine. The top two finishers at Evo Japan will also get instant invites to the Virtua Fighter Open Championship 2026 Special Event.

Last, and most dangerously not least, is the 2005 Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) arcade title best known for its ridiculous gameplay, which sees the best players turning flaws into infinites.

This game is the ultimate foil to the usual blink and you’ll miss it fighting game experience, with every opening being ripe for exploitation and the potential for endless “basketball” combos that will make those getting bounced wish for a shot clock violation. But that is all part of the “kusoge” charm that makes it a beloved, to an extent, experience that you won’t want to miss this weekend.