Capcom already hit the big time with Street Fighter 6, but now the game is set to shatter records this Summer as players get ready to challenge the Capcom Pro Tour. Evo 2023 is the starting line for that competitive circuit, and SF6 is on pace to blow past the biggest fighting game tournament’s largest milestone.
Registration for Evo 2023 opened in March, and not long after the early bird pricing window closed the event team announced SF6 was leading all games in players signing up to compete. That momentum continued to build over the last several months, with Evo general manager Rick “TheHadou” Thiher teasing that a new record had been set for the event series earlier today.
Not long after that tease, the event team confirmed Street Fighter 6 at Evo 2023 will be the largest tournament in franchise and Evo history, according to metrics.
No exact numbers were provided since registration is still open until July 9, but based one previous numbers shared by Evo and its partners we know that SF6 beat out its predecessor for this title.
Prior to this event, Evo’s record for most competitors in a single title was the Street Fighter V debut at Evo 2016. That year set several highs for participants and viewership at the time, but SFV took the cake with 5,107 total players—with Pokkén Tournament being the only other game to even break 1,000 on the main lineup.
Street Fighter IV held the record before that with 2,227 players the year before at Evo 2015 while the SFV numbers dropped significantly to 2,625 players in 2017 all the way to 1,324 with Evo’s big return last year. The biggest tournament since that record-breaking SFV run was Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Evo 2019 debut, which brought 3,534 competitors out in the game’s only Evo appearance to date.
Guilty Gear Strive led all comers with 2,158 players in 2022 and was the headline title thanks to Evo reworking their format so the games with the most players get the primetime spots on stage. If those previous early entry numbers hold, SF6 will blow away the competition and take the top spot, while GGST, Tekken 7, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 round out the top four.
The FGC doesn’t have the most well-kept records, but depending on where SF6’s final numbers end up for Evo 2023, it could be the single largest documented fighting game tournament. It also helps that this is the first stop on the $2 million road to Capcom Cup this season too.
With Mortal Kombat 1 dropping in September and Tekken 8 on the horizon, the next year and change for FGC events will get a massive boost.
Related: Mortal Kombat 1’s Kameo Fighters take player expression to new levels
Now we just have to wait and see how those record-breaking entry numbers will impact the start and stop time for pools. Is anyone down for dealing with Sumo Headbutts at 3am?
