The pre-registration period for EVO 2017, the largest fighting game tournament in the world, officially closed this weekend and the official numbers are in.
It’s no surprise that Street Fighter V leads the pack, with over 2500 competitors from around the world scheduled to duke it out in the main event game. What is surprising, however, is the sharp drop off in registrants from EVO 2016’s whopping 5100 entrants that vied for the Street Fighter V crown.
Other titles saw a similar drop off from their 2016 numbers, most notably the two versions of Super Smash Bros. that will be played at EVO 2017.
Overall registration numbers for EVO 2017 are down this year as well. This year’s tournament will draw in a total of 10,082 competitors across nine different titles – a drop of approximately 18.5% from last year’s total of 12,383.
— SRK Stats (@SRKRanking) July 1, 2017
A number of different factors may be playing a role in the decline of fighting games registering to compete at EVO 2017.
Interest in Street Fighter V was high last year, as that marked the game’s inaugural year of release. However, lack of single-player content, along with continued post-launch issues have stymied the title’s mass-market appeal.
As for the sharp decline in participants in the duo of Smash titles from last year – several complaints from the Smash 
community regarding the organization of the Smash tournaments at EVO 2016 may be playing a role in keeping folks away.
There is also the fanatical devotion within the Smash community to Super Smash Bros. Melee, a game which was released on the Nintendo GameCube in 2001, and refuse to move on to the latest version. The decision by EVO management this year to feature Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as part of the Sunday “Grand Finals”, instead of Melee, has led to controversy within the Smash community.
Other factors that could be playing a part in this year’s decline in EVO 2017 numbers is the increase in the cost to register for a tournament. Last year, the price for initial entry in a tournament was $20, plus $10 for each additional tournament you wanted to enter. This year, that price has jumped to $60 for initial entry.
There is one other factor that could also be playing a role.
Earlier this year, EVO founder Joey Cuellar announced that a second tournament, EVO Japan, would be held in January of 2018. With a large base of competitors that normally travel to EVO annually based in Japan, players could just be waiting for EVO to hit their home turf, rather than shoulder the costs of a trans-pacific flight.
While there are a number of explanations as to why there has been an overall drop in the number of people heading to EVO 2017, the dramatic erosion of participants in Street Fighter V is particularly concerning, and could be indicative of a title that that is experiencing an overall erosion in its player base.
EVO 2017 will be held July 14th – 16th in Las Vegas Nevada. Yours truly will be on-hand at the event to bring you full coverage.
Written by The Watchman
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