On the official announcement post on Shoryuken, EVO has announced the date and venue of Evolution World Finals 2014. They have also announced that they are switching their consoles of choice so that the upcoming tournament will run on Xbox 360.
EVO will be held at LVH Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 11 to 13. They hinted at possible discounts for hotel bookings, to be shared in more detail later.
On the same announcement, they had to make the clarification that they are only using Xbox 360 fighting games for the tournament. If the game did come out on the console, they will be using that version of the game. Subsequently, games that are not available on Xbox 360, such as Smash Bros. Melee, can still be added to the tournament.
EVO has been held for the last five years with Playstation 3 as the preferred console. Many fans, including EVO competitors, have invested heavily in it as well, with console-specific arcade sticks likely the most expensive part of that investment, outside of the consoles themselves. Having said that, EVO has used Xbox 360 and other platforms for their tournaments before as well.
The dedicated competitive gamers are likely not to be affected by this change, and really, when you get to the tournament itself, the scene is friendly enough that you can find someone to lend you a controller. EVO has yet to explain the reasoning behind this change, leaving the matter up to much speculation. I won’t indulge in it myself, but I do hope the tournament organizers speak of their own volition so that they can clear it up themselves.
You can watch the trailer below.
Source: Shoryuken
