EVO 2015 was a resounding success, but one marred by several disappointing events. A series of thefts played out over the weekend including an exhibitor’s table, some arcade sticks, and worst of all, one player’s championship money.
So, EVO theft count:
- Stolen Vita dev kit from Atlus
- 2 PS4 fight sticks
- Some furniture
- Now, Neo's prize money has been stolen.
— RPG Site (@RPGSite) July 20, 2015
It all started out at Atlus’ booth, where one of the employees revealed their Vita test kit was stolen. The unit was brought there for exhibiting Persona 4 Dancing all Night. Atlus has not reported retrieving the console, but they did reveal they can easily make it a paperweight, so it wouldn’t have benefited the thief anyway.
Someone stole a Vita from the Atlus booth at Evo. Please help get the word out. pic.twitter.com/RArRSbUeXH
— Sam Lain Han (@LainySky) July 17, 2015
Aksys Games was in attendance to promote Guilty Gear Xrd Sign and Blazblue ChronoPhantasma Extend. Astoundingly, they lost their entire table, along with some stools. Thankfully, this theft was temporarily, but apparently not before an Aksys person gave someone a piece of their mind.
Wonderful. Someone just stole a table from our booth. Seriously?
— Aksys Games (@aksysgames) July 18, 2015
Theft UPDATE: they stole our stools, too. If you see red of black stools with Aksys stickers on them, they're ours.
— Aksys Games (@aksysgames) July 18, 2015
Found the stools. Now to find a table.
— Aksys Games (@aksysgames) July 18, 2015
Found the table. Will be returned shortly. I apologize to those who got exposed to my evil side. Still… Life goes on, and so will #EVO2015
— Aksys Games (@aksysgames) July 18, 2015
People also reported losing sticks and laptops, like so:
PSA: My World Warrior stickbag was stolen from underneath one of the anime setups. Bag contains my laptop and wires. Please return it.
— Anime Side Tourneys (@Anime_EVO) July 19, 2015
However, without a doubt, the biggest and most upsetting news involves the theft of $ 6000 cash, as well as a laptop and car keys, taken from one Abraham Sotelo, AKA GoldenBoyNeo.
Neo earned some of this money from playing Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, but some of it he also earned in his booth. Friends have already set up a GoFundMe for sympathetic fans to help Neo out, which you can check out here.
Some fans posit that some of these are mere petty thefts, but the person who stole Neo’s stuff is not really a player, but someone who infiltrated the event, knowing many players leave their things insecure. We hope EVO and other tournament organizers look at this as the breaking point and institute stiff ground rules to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
You can read about the theft of Neo’s items from Abraham himself, as well as fellow player and friend Noel Brown.
Wow. Someone stole Neo's bookbag with all his money from his booth and evo prize in it and then they just ditched the bag in the bathroom.
— Noel Brown (@NoelBHungry) July 20, 2015
Fucking scumbags. This goes from being one of the best evos for him to probably the worse. Thousands of dollars all stolen. Smh
— Noel Brown (@NoelBHungry) July 20, 2015
Neo of all people doesn't deserve this. He was gonna use that money to pay for his law school expenses. He's always nice to everyone too.
— Noel Brown (@NoelBHungry) July 20, 2015
They also took his car key so now he can't drive back home either. This is the fucking worse. Stealing something while he's celebrating
— Noel Brown (@NoelBHungry) July 20, 2015
And fyi, there's no cameras in the ballroom
— Noel Brown (@NoelBHungry) July 20, 2015
OMG MY BACKPACK IS MISSING! if you know something help! If U help me find it I will give u 200! grey backpack with red dc symbol! Retweet
— Abraham Sotelo (@GoldenBoyNeo) July 20, 2015
IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING, anything of a grey backpack with a red dc shoe store symbol on it plz let me know! No questions asked and BIG REWARD
— Abraham Sotelo (@GoldenBoyNeo) July 20, 2015
Wow, I am so crushed. They found my bag but they took everything. All of my hard work over $6000 and lapto gone. I am done, just done
— Abraham Sotelo (@GoldenBoyNeo) July 20, 2015
There r no cameras in this room. I was going to use that money I worked so hard to get to give my mother her first vacation ever. I'm tired.
— Abraham Sotelo (@GoldenBoyNeo) July 20, 2015
