The Evolution Championship Series (Evo) returns to Las Vegas this weekend, from July 19 to 21. Every summer as the temperature rises, so does the competition. Fans and competitors from the fighting game community head to Las Vegas to celebrate the games that bring us together. Champions will return to defend their titles while new blood tries to make their mark on Evo history. 

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For the second year, Evo 2024 broke the world registration record for an in-person esports event, with over 10,000 registrants and over 50,000 attendees from 63 countries around the world. As the fighting game community continues to grow, Evo is heading to a new, bigger venue: the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Attendees will experience an expanded show floor alongside an arena finals experience for all eight Evo tournaments. The lineup this year is epic: Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, Mortal Kombat 1, The King Of Fighters XV, Guilty Gear -Strive-, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, and Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes.

New and returning show floor experiences

This year’s event features brand-new show-floor attractions, alongside the return of fan favorites like the Free Play Arcade, Arcade Stick Museum, Cosplay Competition, and hands-on demos of upcoming games.

Evo attendees will also get a hands-on look at new and highly anticipated fighting games, including 2XKO, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, Rivals 2, Marvel vs. Capcom: Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics, Marvel vs. Capcom: Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics, and HunterxHunter NenxImpact.

Make sure to check out the debut of the Evo Art Gallery, a celebration of fighting game history. The Gallery will feature over 100 pieces, including illustrations, promotional posters, and more. 

The Evo Cosplay Competition will showcase world-class cosplayers dressed as characters from your favorite fighting games.

The Arcade Controller Museum highlights the brands and communities of fighting games. Experience the history of the arcade controller and check out a vast collection of Evo controllers, community pieces, game-licensed fight sticks, and more. 

The popular Free Play Arcade is back with more games and an expanded footprint. There are more games this year than ever before, from vintage FGC classics to modern cabinets. 

Catch up with PlayStation at Evo

The PlayStation Booth will be on the floor with exclusive demos, competitions, and gear. Fans can play a demo of the upcoming Astro Bot and test their skills in Gran Turismo 7 Time Trials. New and exclusive merch will be available onsite at the PlayStation Gear Store. Players can drop in and practice their skills on all eight Evo titles.

During Evo, there will be major fighting games on discount as a part of PlayStation Store’s Summer Sale. Head to PlayStation Store when the promotion goes live on July 17.

Watch Evo this weekend

You can tune in to live coverage of Evo on twitch.tv/evo and the PlayStation Esports YouTube channel. Event Badges for this year’s record-breaking Evo will be available right up to the weekend of the event at evo.gg

Evo is defined by the fans. Your passion for fighting games makes this event something special, and we’re grateful for that support. Stay tuned for more Evo news and announcements soon. See you at Evo 2024.

The team at Red Barrels is extremely excited to dive deeper into our very first seasonal update, Project Lupara. For any newcomers, The Outlast Trials is a cooperative PvE experience where up to four players, known in-game as Reagents, participate in experiments that push their psyches to the absolute limit. Our imminent (and free) update, Project Lupara’ packs a major wallop, including a brand-new story trial (it’s gross), a brand-new map (even grosser), and a brand-new Rig. 

On top of all that, we’re proud to introduce what all our Reagents have been fearfully waiting for: The sniffling, whining, bloodthirsty Franco ‘Il Bambino’ Barbi. The first of his kind, Franco hunts players with his beloved Lupara, a sawed-off shotgun that gives him range beyond any Outlast villain thus far.

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The perverse son of New Orleans mafia don Salvatore Barbi, Franco is driven by craven entitlement, greed, and psychosexual violence fueled by his impotence and insecurities, a freakish “big baby” obsessed with his Pacifier the titular boom stick he suckles on when he’s not using it to blow some poor unsuspecting Reagent to smithereens (including all that fun gore and viscera you’ve come to expect from us). With a face even his mother couldn’t love, players will be introduced to Franco in the new story Trial, Poison the Medicine, which will transport Reagents to The Docks, a brand-new map, and Barbi’s home turf.

Can’t get enough Barbi? During the four weeks following the release of the update, the fine folks at Murkoff have taken it upon themselves to shuttle Franco around to the other trials in the Bambino special event. Mother Gooseberry and Sergeant Coyle have promised to play nice, though I’d continue to keep my distance if I were you.

Escalation Therapy, a new game mode being introduced alongside this update, will allow hardcore Reagents to partake in a seemingly never-ending experience that will pit them against a series of randomized Trials, with randomized variations, and randomized upgrades. No playthrough will be the same, but each one will have you clawing your eyes out until you beg for mercy. And just when you think it’s over, the cycle begins anew. Start with nothing, survive as long as you can, and reap your rewards.

If that wasn’t enough, Easterman has signed off on adding another distraction to the Sleep Room. Alongside arm wrestling and chess, Reagents will be able to challenge each other to the Stroop Test. The Stroop Test is a classic challenge based on hastily choosing between mismatched colored words. It sounds easy, but this mind-liquifying test quickly becomes a classic Outlast head trip. Who said Murkoff never did anything nice for its Reagents?

We’ve heard the pained moans of our Reagents from behind the triple-reinforced glass, and so we took the time to give all of our menus a facelift. Browse the new Catalogs to find all sorts of player rewards and sickening cosmetics. Expect Trial Boards to refresh regularly, making Weekly Programs easily accessible for Reagents looking to dive back into their favorite Trials… With a twist or two. Speaking of Trials, this update will also include a wider range of difficulty settings, starting from Introductory going all the way to Psychosurgery. Furthermore, the new Tasks system will allow Murkoff to give the particularly meticulous Reagents special objectives to tackle as they go through their Trials. Alone or together, the chances to reap more rewards have never been more bountiful.

Last but not least, Reagents can gain access to the new Barricade Rig. Use it to block the path behind you or to troll your friends. Pursuers will have to bash their way through or take the long way around to catch up. Like the other Rigs, The Barricade comes with its own set of upgrades that can be unlocked to bolster Reagents even more in their absolute moment of need. Nothing can stop you.

For those looking for that immediate staycation, The Exotica Pack will include exclusive outfits and Cell decoration items that are sure to warm even the frailest, beaten-down Reagent. The Exotica Pack will be available for purchase for $19.99  and offers a treasure trove of new cosmetics.

We can’t wait for you to discover what Murkoff has been cooking up for you with Project Lupara. This is only the beginning of the Sinyala Facilities expansion. There will be many more surprises for our loyal Reagents in the not-so-distant future. So what are you waiting for? Begin your rebirth today, but in the meantime, enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at how we come up with this filth.