The 2014 Evo Championship line-up was officially announced during last week's iPlayWinner The Fray! podcast where fortunes proved mixed for the NetherRealm stable.
Mortal Kombat missed out on a fourth consecutive year at the tournament major: ousted in a reduced schedule of six games, down from last years preliminary seven. Revived Xbox One rival Killer Instinct joined the list. Receiving the biggest snub of all was Namco's Tekken -- completely absent after double-representation [Tekken Tag Tournament 2 & Street Fighter x Tekken] in last year's tournament!
Injustice: Gods Among Us will return as a first choice title this year, having been a belated inclusion into the 2013 line-up [full story]. KDZ was the first Injustice World Champion. Evo founder Joey "Mr. Wizard" Cuellar told SRK, "... if the latest balance patch [read more] didn’t come out and even things out, it would have been tough to have the game at Evo this year. The NRS team did an excellent job at balancing, and a lot of top 8s in tournaments since the patch have had lots of new characters."
Similar late inclusions have not been ruled out for 2014, which will also see a radically revised Road to Evo Series. Sourced statistics are said to replace Evo designated events, opening Evo seeding data to a wider range of competitors. The struggle to eliminate attendance advantages has been a prominent concern, despite the success of the 2012 feed series.
- Full 2014 Evo Championship List:
- Ultra Street Fighter IV
- Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
- Killer Instinct
- Injustice: Gods Among Us
- King of Fighters XIII
- BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma
Mortal Kombat Online talked to 2011/2012 Mortal Kombat Evo World Champion "
I am happy with the EVO 2014 line-up. It's unfortunate to see Mortal Kombat go, but everyone decided to drop the game and move on to others like Injustice [and] Killer Instinct. I feel like if Mortal Kombat had one last balance patch, it would've kept the game alive longer. I do think it was a great time and can't wait for Mortal Kombat 10! Injustice is definitely filling that void until we get to engage in Mortal Kombat once again.
[We have had] a lot of great times in the scene and we have a great history we can look back to for that era. I know there are still very hardcore fans that will still play the game for fun, but that competitive drive to win isn't there anymore. There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing a game because you enjoy playing it.
I have no ill will towards EVO for dropping Mortal Kombat. I am grateful that Injustice and Killer Instinct were picked up! I wish Dead or Alive would have gotten some love this year but unfortunately it is on the sidelines again.
I want to wish everyone good luck at EVO in their respective games. I will be there for Injustice, Street Fighter and Killer Instinct!
Evo 2014 takes place July 11-13 at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel and Casino. Relive the 2013 Mortal Kombat Evo World Championship through Mortal Kombat Online's extensive feature article. Share your thoughts about the upcoming line-up on the Gameplay & Matchmaking forum.
