EVO2014 Game Lineup Predictions

Since Evo games are bound to be announced soon, I think it’s time for a prediction thread.

Here’s mine:

USF4 (already confirmed)
UMvC3 (given)
KOF13
BB: Chrono Phantasma
Injustice
Killer Instinct
Smash Melee
Donation Drive 2.0

SFxT2013 and KI are there because I assume some moneyhatting is going to be involved. Wiz hates SFxT and was set on having it not appear in 2013 despite probably knowing that a patch was coming for the game (he has inside info). Capcom has a huge amount of influence over Evo and it’s likely that they will force him to put SFxT in, much like they put the pressure on SRK to include Ultra at Evo instead of SF42012. Evo is going Xbox is year, something they were adamant against doing until very recently. It’s not unlikely that the 360s were provided by MS in exchange for KI being featured in the lineup.

MK9 is done for real this time. The game has pretty much completely given way to Injustice in terms of turnout at majors. It have a good three-year run.

KOF13 is still has a great cult following and there is great hype for it every year at Evo. It’s safe to say that it will be back.

Wiz asked on twitter for people to choose an ArcSys game they wanted to see in the lineup, so it’s pretty much confirmed that we will get at least one anime game. CP has been received positively, GGAC+R is too old to be relevant and P4Ultimax won’t be out in NA in time for Evo.

Due to the hugely positive reception for Smash last year, I think it’s same to assume that Melee is a given. This would also give other games a crack of the whip if another donation drive goes down (which it probably will).

I don’t think it’s unsafe to assume that we will have the same number of games this year as we did last year. ArcSys games traditionally have not had a great presence at Evo, so asking the community what ArcSys games they want shows that SRK is trying to provide “something for everyone” again this year.

USF4
UMvC3
SFxT2013
KOF13
Injustice
Killer Instinct
Smash Melee

Shaq Fu for Donation Drive 2.0

Wizard asked for the perfect EVO 2k14 lineup (6 games or less).

Here’s my prediction (6 games or less).

USF4 - given
UMvC3 - given
Injustice - community support still strong for this one. Added at the last minute for EVO 2k13 and response was positive.
KOF - Cult favorite with very entertaining top 8 matches ever since its first appearance
Smash Melee - extremely positive reaction and support from last year. If WiiU Smash is out by Spring then that will be the game but I think that’s very unlikely.
P4Umax - Not sure if P4Umax will be released in time. If not then it will be BB:CP (Mar 2014 release date). Wizard wants an anime game in there.

Hoping for KI but given that it’s a XboxOne exclusive, not sure if the support is there yet. WiiU smash is also a console exclusive, but Smash fans are dedicated and will come out in droves. KI isn’t quite at that level yet.

SFxT is out. They put it in EVO 2k13 because the patch was coming up and they were giving it the benefit of the doubt. Patch did fix a lot of balance issues, but it was still a terrible game to watch. Doubtful it will make a reappearance.

If there are 9 games like last year, then add KI, TTT2, and donation drive to the mix.

On the feedback thread there were a lot of comments saying how they appreciated the 9 game lineup, so Id like to think there will be at least 8 games this year.
I might be wrong, but my prediction would be

USF4
UMVC3
KOFXIII
Killer Instinct
Blazblue
Smash Melee
Injustice
Tekken.

Evene though Tekken had low numbers last year, EVO always has at least 1 3d game. Lets hope that doesnt change this year.

Now that I think of it, SFxT is fucked because it’s not even a main game at UFGT, which is almost definitely going to be a Road to Evo tourney.

i hope they have nidhogg somewhere at evo

SFxT numbers have been dwindling for awhile now and a good chunk of the numbers are SF players entering just because its similar to SF so why not? I understand there are a few people left who enjoy the game and support it but there is just no way.

USFIV
UMVC3
KI
KOF XIII
BB:CP
SSBM

USFIV is a given, UMVC3 is a given, KI is there because it’s the newest big fighting game and it will bring in ALOT of (non fg)viewers, dumb to not include it regardless if it’s good or bad. KOFXIII i hope wil be in there because this game is what brings the excitement and it is just so damn fun to watch an play.
BB:CP is a new game in the BB series. SSBM is immensely popular last year, so it will definately be here again.

Injustice might be in in too since it is still being played but i loathe the game so whatever. As for the 3D fighters i actually want TTT2 or DOA5U, i have no udea about DOA5U regarding tournaments however it’s a free game and alot of people are atleast playing it on PSN and it has gotten an arcade release in Japan. TTT2 is still an amazing game to play and watch but nobody seems to care anymore. SFxT…who even cares about it even more(quite a few apparantely)

So far it seems like Injustice has the littlest chance of making it, but who knows. People dont play it where I live. And I see it the most besides vanilla MVC3 and MK vs DC out of the recent fighting games.

AWWWW YEAHHHHH

What is this shit?
I want Tekken!

Well if we go by the supposed entrants numbers each game had…

1. SSF4 AE v2012 - 1,601 players
2. UMvC3 - 1,297 players
3. Smash - 696 players
4. Injustice - 582 players
5. SFxT - 545 players
6. KoF13 - 433 players
7. P4A - 400 players
8. TTT2 - 355 players
9. MK9 - 233 players

SFIV and Marvel are a given. Smash is basically a given unless they have issues with Nintendo going into the next year (some of the drama with Nintendo and the lack of CRT’s almost cancelled the event). Injustice is pretty much a shoe in because I’m sure they’re going to make sure at least one NRS game gets in and it sadly was the only other traditional 1 on 1 fighting game that brought more than 500 people other than XTekken. It’s really bad when a game that was at Evo when 3rd Strike was big is bringing more entrants than the majority of the established tourney games. Especially when it’s not that hard for some of the SFIV or UMVC3 players to carry over to some of those games.

Killer Instinct I’m thinking is a shoe in. I figured Skullgirls would be also but the lack of updates for the game and the political drama behind it probably kept it from finding a spot. KI is in a similar spot as far as where it’s starting (low budget title that will eventually become full fledged game), but it definitely will appeal to a wider audience in and out of the FGC than Skullgirls would have. The Xbox One has sold about the same amount of units as the PS4 supposedly which means the potential for a lot of NEW people to enter the FGC and enter Evo for the game is HUGE. Especially with the netcode being so strong that it will allow people who don’t live near Cali or NY to regularly practice with the best and prepare for an Evo. The majority of other fighting games that are at Evo = live near established tourney scene or get no real meaningful practice with the game’s shitty netcode. Eventhubs listed the game as 5th most wanted title to appear at Evo also.

Not to mention Evo tourney placers and staff helped worked on the game (Buktooth, Ponder brothers, MikeZ) so there’s probably already a push from that and how Xbox is the main system for tournaments this year.

P4A I don’t see making it again with the new BB coming out. Which I see Blazblue probably never coming to Evo again once the new GG hits. Blazblue will most likely make it though. The other stuff got poor turnouts so they’re up in the air.

So I’m thinking if they do 8 or 9 games again like last year…

1.SFIV
2.Marvel
3.Smash
4.Injustice
5.Killer Instinct
6. Blazblue
7.Tekken Tag (turnout was shitty but they always try to represent one 3d fighter)
8. KOF
9.SFxT (this game gets praised by a lot of top players but just doesn’t bring the numbers so its iffy)

If they’re only doing 6 games then SFxT, KOF and Tekken are on the chopping block. Mortal Kombat 10 will have to come out before that sees the light of day at Evo again.

lol, no guilty gear love, but people want blazblue. at least guilty gear ac +r is available for xbox and japanese ps3, where as though blazblue cp is only ps3. id rather see ggac+r for the anime game of choice for the big stage all weekend. shoutout to bbcp, but at least more people have access to ggac+R

The thing is that if BBCP is added to the Evo Lineup…will their community actually show up?

^ Question of the day folks.

I’m guessing it will look something like this:

In

USF4 - Lock.
UMvC3 - Lock.
Injustice - Still doing fairly strong, and it is Netherrealm’s primary fighter… Lock.
Killer Instinct - New 2D fighter with a good enough install base; Microsoft isn’t sponsoring Evo to show off Windows 8… Lock.
Melee - Depends on Nintendo; doesn’t seem like they’ll get in the way.
KoF XIII - Decent sized player-base overall and tends to overlap with SF4 players.
TTT2 - Even if Tekken is falling out of favor, it’s still the premier 3D fighter; Namco has historically sponsored the tournament.

Questionable

SFxT - It is a Capcom fighter (so it would get entrants due to player overlap); it’s all about entry numbers.
BB:CP - The US and Japan are playing the same game (for seemingly the first time) there won’t be conflict; player-base (which is huge in Japan) will be united with one game.
DoA5U - Actually appears to be catching on; the Arcade release in Japan should give the game and player-base more exposure.

I think all three get in btw.


Out

MK9 - With Injustice and KI being the focus of Western fighters, MK9 is now a distant 3rd.
P4A - P4A2 won’t be out in time; even if it was player-base isn’t huge to begin with and the game’s too big of a question mark.
GG - AC+R player-base isn’t big enough and is too risky; Xrd will probably get a demo showing/side-tourney (it won’t be out in time).
SG - It didn’t get in last year, and the game hasn’t been shaken up enough to make people reconsider.

In the aim to make Evo bigger, the expansion to 10 games are made. However, I believe entrant numbers will be lukewarm for all games except USF4, Marvel, and Smash.

uh wut, how is bbcp any different then gg. lol. the us and japan are both playing the same game right now, and ggac+r is available on more consoles here then cp. bbcp is cool with me, cause ggac+r will be at evo regardless, but its just weird how everyone counts it out, as if bbcp is booming in america right now at tournies. lol. imo, choosing an anime game for the big stage that more people have access to would be the smartest decision. ggac+r at evo would likely get more entrants then even ttt2.

You say that like GG players make it out, both GG and BB pl;ayers are having problems showing up to events, with BB edging GG out jut a bit more.

One thing no one has talked about is if Disney is going to let them stream UMvC3. Now that Capcom doesn’t have the license anymore it could happen. Nintendo almost did it last year, but Disney is not a game company and might not give a shit if people complain at them.

Mr. Wizard better ask for permission before they do the event or they could sent them a Cease and Desist right before the event starts.