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The entrants for the biggest fighting game tournament in the world are in and some are quite shocking.
Evo 2026 is right around the corner and as is tradition, they’ve released a full breakdown of the number of participants of the 12 tournaments this year.
There are a total of 5,774 unique competitors for Evo 2026. When you take into account those who registered for more than one tournament, that number rises to 8,926. Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 take the top two spots once again, guaranteeing themselves a Sunday Arena Finals spot. It’s what comes after that’s rather surprising.
Guilty Gear -Strive- and Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising have been unseated by two upstarts – tag-fighter 2XKO and platform fighter Rivals of Aether II. As the newest fighter on the block, 2XKO making it all the way to third is quite the feat. Rivals II would be impressive as well if it wasn’t for a little snag.
Rivals II first debuted in Evo 2025 as part of their Extended Lineup. Clocking in at 358 entrants, they topped their category but it was still a rather meager representation for the game. Fast forward to Evo 2026 and they’ve suddenly more than doubled their entrants, and it’s not because the niche platform fighter has found widespread appeal.
Buying Out
A few months ago popular content creator Ludwig Ahgren announced that he would go on a campaign to boost the registrant numbers of Rivals II for Evo 2026. At first he offered to pay for the tickets to the entire three day event to any viewer who could beat him in a match. Eventually, Ludwig was giving away free registration codes to anyone who signed up for the Rivals II tournament. It’s led many in the fighting game community to accuse him of buying out the fourth place spot.
Why would Ludwig go through all this trouble and expense in the first place? Aside from some affinity for platform fighters, his company, Offbrand Games, is the publisher of Rivals of Aether II. It’s a poor look no matter how you slice it and it puts a damper on the entire tournament.
One could argue the same is happening for 2XKO as Riot Games is offering a free skin to those who enter their tournament. However, it’s important to note that you’re still paying for your own ticket to enter – you just get a freebie that you could have bought normally in their in-game store. Plus, they’re offering more rewards if you can get further into the tournament. It’s an incentive to those already interested in the game to try out a live tournament and see what the experience is like.
Sadly, the prevailing theory is that we won’t actually be seeing those 1,022 entrants playing Rivals of Aether II. Ludwig’s stunt was too enticing not to exploit, and people expect a lot of DQs in the Rivals II tournament. Hopefully the fallout isn’t as bad as people predict and that we’ll at least still get a good event once Evo 2026 starts on June 26.
Banner image from Evo on X.
Frequently Asked Questions
Evo 2026 is the world’s largest fighting game tournament, featuring 5,774 unique competitors across 12 events, with 8,926 total registrations including multi-tournament entrants.
2XKO ranked third overall, displacing established titles like Guilty Gear -Strive- and Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising behind Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8.
Content creator Ludwig Ahgren — whose company publishes the game — paid for free tickets and registration codes to boost entrant numbers, leading the FGC to accuse him of buying the fourth-place spot.
Riot Games offered a free in-game skin to 2XKO entrants who still paid their own way. Ludwig Ahgren covered full event costs for Rivals II players, a far deeper financial intervention.
Many in the fighting game community expect a high disqualification rate, since a large portion of registrants signed up primarily to take advantage of Ludwig’s free-entry offer rather than to compete.