The Evolution Championship Series (Evo) is set to return to an in-person event this August, but it appears that Super Smash Bros. won’t be included as part of the competition.
Along with sharing that an Evo announcement show will air on March 8 at 7pm CT to discuss further details for the 2022 event, the Evo team also confirmed that Smash will not be making an appearance.
According to the messaging, Nintendo declined to have Smash featured during Evo’s upcoming event, though no further information was shared about why this may have been.
“Since 2007, we’ve seen historic Super Smash Bros. moments created at Evo’s events,” the Evo team said. “We are saddened that Nintendo has chosen not to continue that legacy with us this year. In the future, we hope to once again celebrate the Super Smash Bros. community alongside them.”
Last March, the Evo brand was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment and RTS, which called into question if Microsoft or Nintendo would let their fighting games be featured at the event again.
At the time, Nintendo responded by saying that it had “enjoyed engaging with fans at past Evo tournaments and wish the show organizers the best with their new venture,” adding that the company would “assess Evo, and other opportunities” while planning future online and offline Super Smash Bros. tournament activity.
For reference, Smash Ultimate was not featured during Evo Online 2021 and Melee wasn’t even present at the last live competition, Evo 2019. And, with the officially licensed Super Smash Bros. championship circuit that was announced last year in partnership with Panda Global set to launch at some point this year, Nintendo may just not be interested in Evo at the moment.
We likely will never learn exactly why Nintendo wouldn’t bring Smash back to Evo at this time, but at least more announcements surrounding Evo 2022 will be shared on March 8 during the announcement show. Evo 2022 is scheduled to return live to Las Vegas from Aug. 5 to 7.
