Evo 2026 will feature a broader mainstage lineup with 12 games, an increase from the usual eight, aiming to engage a wider range of gaming communities.
Early entrant rankings have been released, showing Street Fighter 6 leading the leaderboard, having consistently held the number one spot since its 2023 launch.
Street Fighter 6 saw a decrease in entries from 5,265 participants in 2024 to 4,228 in 2025, but this still outnumbers the second and third place games combined.
While Tekken 8 was fourth in Japan, it currently holds second place for Evo 2026, indicating positive momentum for the game.
Newcomer 2XKO occupies the third slot, building curiosity about its upcoming Evo debut participant numbers.
Guilty Gear Strive maintains the fourth position, while Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising retains its fifth place from last year.
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves dropped to sixth place after a promising debut in Evo 2025, reflecting typical fluctuations for newcomers.
Invincible VS surprisingly found itself in seventh, while Vampire Savior remains in eighth place.
Rivals of Aether 2 occupies the ninth position, marking the return of platform fighters to Evo after a long absence since the exit of Super Smash Bros.
BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Under Night In-Birth 2, and Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage round out the rankings, with Under Night In-Birth 2 experiencing the biggest drop to eleventh place.
Virtua Fighter 5’s performance indicates it may not resonate strongly with the Western tournament scene currently.
Early Bird Registration Leaderboard pic.twitter.com/T8nFGXfflT
This lineup notably lacks NetherRealm Studios, attributed to Mortal Kombat 1’s poor performance with only 377 registered players at Evo 2025.
Early registration has closed, with traditional registration open until May 4 and late registration running until May 25.
Evo 2026 will return to Las Vegas from June 26 to 28, and nominees for the Evo Awards 2026 have been unveiled, inviting public voting.