EVO 2021 is currently ongoing. EVO is widely regarded as the biggest fighting game tournament event of the year, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's event has gone fully online. It's not the same, but everyone understands it's a matter of making the best of a bad situation. EVO, like fans in the fighting game community, is ready to bring back the crowds, though. That's why EVO 2022 has now been confirmed to be returning to Vegas with live audiences.
The announcement was made as part of today's EVO festivities on Twitch, though a more thorough announcement was shared later on the official EVO website. The announcement confirms that EVO 2022 will be run between August 5 and 7 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The announcement makes no explicit mention of crowds being invited to the event, but it is heavily implied. EVO 2022 will be a live event, barring any changes in the pandemic or restrictions made in Las Vegas.
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A trailer for EVO 2022 explores the message the event is trying to convey by announcing EVO's return to a live event. It shows clips of EVO tournaments going back to the event's origins. In each clip, the trailer shows how the EVO audience makes the biggest moments what they are. EVO's grown from audiences of small groups packed into dark rooms to having thousands of fans cheering for each game's top players. The final words of the trailer capture the overall sentiment, saying, "We missed you, FGC."
Obviously, there are a lot of questions that can't be answered right now. The COVID-19 pandemic has entered a new wave in the United States due to the Delta variant, and it's more than possible that there will be additional waves in the future. For now, despite the severity of the Delta variant, restrictions have remained thin. In-person events are occurring across the country, especially in Las Vegas. As such, it's unlikely EVO 2022 would be canceled regardless of the state of the pandemic in August 2020. That says nothing about the safety of such an event, however.
All that EVO officials and members of the FGC can do is wait and see. Depending on the conditions of the pandemic, it's possible that EVO could impose mask rules, mandatory vaccines for attendees, remove the audience entirely, or worst case cancel EVO 2022 and go online once again.
There's no denying that EVO, and all fighting game tournaments, are incomparably better in-person. There's an electricity in the air when a crowd watches a close match. In-person events are better for esports players, too, as network lag is removed. Plus, it's just that much more fun being face to face with an opponent. Needless to say, the FGC is hoping everything goes smoothly so EVO 2022 can be held without reservation.