Like déjà vu, Mortal Kombat is once again making an appearance at the Evolution Championship Series. This marks its second year on the world's stage and shows that our favorite game has the legs to last. The Evo Championship Series is perhaps the world's best known fighting game competition and the game's second appearance in it assures its position as one of the premier fighting games of this generation. We would like to congratulate NetherRealm Studios for this achievement! Shoryuken's live podcast Wakeup SRK featuring Mr. Wizard, Evo organizer, confirmed MK's appearance as of 7pm PST today. Furthermore, it appears that, unlike last year, all DLC characters (Kenshi, Skarlet, Rain, Freddy Krueger) will be tournament legal. Kratos, the PlayStation 3 exclusive character, however, will more than likely remain banned.

While Mortal Kombat as a series had experienced a long drought of competitive exposure, that drought met its end last year at Evo 2011. And by the looks of it, the Mortal Kombat team, led by Ed Boon, has turned the tides 180 degrees and are marching full force into the competitive landscape with no sign of slowing. At the outset, NetherRealm Studios made it clear that this game was designed with the hardcore fighting game enthusiast in mind while simultaneously offering enough accessibility and versatility to be played by novices with little difficulty. Those early rumblings stretching back to E3 2010 have proven themselves true.

While this is an important achievement, the real goal of any tournament is to generate participants and spectators. Please support Mortal Kombat in this tournament and all others, both big and small, online and offline. It is through that passion that this great game can continue to live.

We at Mortal Kombat Online look forward to seeing how this year plays out and are eager to congratulate those skillful enough to stand in the winner's circle.

The full lineup of games officially appearing at Evo 2012 are:

  • Super Street Fighter IV: AE 2012 Edition
  • Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
  • Soulcalibur V
  • Mortal Kombat
  • King of Fighters XIII
  • Street Fighter X Tekken

The Road to Evo 2012 Begins!

The road to Evo 2012 has officially begun!

From January through June, the top players will earn tournament seeding points as they battle their way to the main event at the Evo Championships 2012!

Winners at key tournaments will earn 50pts toward their seeding tally, with runners-up garnering 25pts, and third a modest 10pts. Those finishing 4th through 12th will receive 1pt for their trouble. These points will play a key role in the progress of players as they enter the pool stages at Evo -- and with tournaments offering points to players across America, Canada, Singapore and Australia, opportunity is stretching wide and far!

    Official "Road to Evo" Tournament Line-Up includes:
  • Apex Tournament Series New Brunswick, New Jersey (Jan 6-8)
  • OzHadou Nationals X Sydney, Australia (Feb 17-19)
  • Winter Brawl Philadelphia, PA (Feb 18-19)
  • Final Round Atlanta, GA (March 2-4)
  • South East Asia Major Bugis Arcade, Singapore (Mar 17-18)
  • NorCal Regionals 10 (Mar 24-25)
  • Texas Showdown Houston, Texas (Apr 6-8)
  • PowerUp 2012 Cincinnati, Ohio (Apr 13-15)
  • Team Mad Catz Championships San Diego, CA (Apr 13-15)
  • Civil War 4 Richmond, VA (Apr 28-29)
  • Toryuken Toronto Ontario, Canada (May 4-6)
  • Season’s Beatings: Summer Slam Columbus, OH (May 5)
  • Northwest Majors Seattle, WA (May 26)
  • Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament 8 Chicago, IL (May 25-27)
  • Montreal Annual Tournament Montreal, Canada (Jun 3-4)
  • East Coast Throwdown Morristown, NJ (Jun 9-10)
  • CEO 2012 Orlando, FL (Jun 15-17)
  • Midwest Championships 2012 Nashville, TN (Jun 22-24)

For more information about the official Road to Evo, follow the link to ShoRyuKen.com. Mortal Kombat Online will attempt to keep you up-to-date on MK's status at key events. Discuss the Road to Evo and more on the MKO forums and keep up to date @MK_Online.