To be held in Fukuoka in February! EVO Japan 2019, a Fighting Game Festival, Press Conference Report

The EVO Japan 2019 Executive Committee held a press conference for EVO Japan 2019 Presented by NTT DOCOMO, which will be held at the Fukuoka International Center from Friday, February 15 to Sunday, February 17.

EVO Japan 2019 Presented by NTT DOCOMO" is the world's largest fighting game tournament, where fighting game players from around the world gather in Las M. Bisons to compete with fair rules, a competitive spirit, and the best skills they have honed up to that point, and challenge each other in a battle to determine the title of champion. It is another world championship that inherits the philosophy of the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), a fighting game tournament.

One year after the drama-filled EVO Japan 2018, the 2019 tournament will be hotly contested in Fukuoka.

In conjunction with the EVO Japan 2019 Presented by NTT DOCOMO, a press conference was held at OnSITE (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) on Monday, January 21.

At the press conference, Mr. Takashi Fujisawa of the EVO Japan 2019 Executive Committee first took the stage.

Mr. Fujisawa looked back on "EVO Japan 2018" held in January last year, which recorded a total of over 12,000 attendees and 10 million views in total despite being the first EVO Japan, and said, "We will continue to build a foundation for the continuous holding of EVO Japan in the future. The challenge theme for the second EVO Japan 2019 was to build a foundation that will allow us to continue to hold EVO Japan in the future. We received more entries than expected for the previous tournament, and miraculously we were able to hold the event in an additional hall next door that was available, but in order to hold the second event, we needed a place where we could secure a comfortable playing environment. At that time, we received a proposal from Fukuoka City to provide strong support for the environment surrounding the games, and the decision was made to hold the event in Fukuoka City," he said, explaining the process leading up to the decision on the venue.


He also mentioned the transparency of prize money and the soundness of management, which he was working on at the same time, and said, "The open environment of an open tournament in which anyone can participate and the accolades that the winners of the hard-fought tournament should receive are two very different things. How can we achieve both in Japan? And how do we maintain the soundness of the operation? In this regard, we have reached a certain conclusion through discussions with the competent ministries and agencies and related companies regarding participation prizes, prize money, entrance fees, sponsorships, and so on. Although we were not able to adopt everything, we were able to fully explore the ideal form for this event through these consensus building efforts. e-sports is essentially a game tournament, but by strongly involving the surrounding community in this way, we believe we can make a great leap forward from a mere game tournament. We believe that by strongly involving the surrounding community, e-sports can make a great leap forward from mere game competitions. We will do our utmost to make this the best experience for everyone involved, including players, spectators, game makers, sponsors, local governments, and local communities," he concluded.

The game competitions to be held at EVO Japan 2019 will include "Tekken 7," "BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE," "SOULCALIBUR VI," "THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIV," "STREET FIGHTER V ARCADE EDITION," and "GUILTY GEAR Xrd," as well as more than 20 side competitions by various communities. Registration for EVO Japan 2019 closes at 23:59 on Thursday, January 31.

A collaboration with "High Score Girl," the popular ▲90s arcade love comedy popular in comics and anime, is also being developed. In addition to a spin-off comic book and official Twitter icons newly drawn by the original author, Rensuke Oshikiri, there are also plans to sell goods featuring the anime's original collaboration visuals at the EVO Japan 2019 venue.

Following Mr. Fujisawa on stage was Fukuoka City Mayor Soichiro Takashima. Mr. Takashima said, "Fukuoka City has been focusing on the promotion of the gaming industry for the past 10 years, and expectations are rising with the establishment of the Fukuoka eSports Association, a private organization that conveys the appeal of eSports to citizens, and the incorporation of eSports into school club activities. We would like to involve the city at large and leave a legacy for the whole of Japan after the event," he said.

Mr. Shuhei Ishimaru, Secretary General of the Fukuoka District Strategy Promotion Council (FDC), took the stage after Mr. Takashima's introduction. Mr. Ishimaru said, "Since 2018, we have established an e-sports subcommittee to study and implement various initiatives for the promotion of e-sports and the implementation of "EVO Japan 2019. As part of these efforts, the Nishi-Nippon Railroad IC card "nimoca" with "EVO" specifications will go on sale, and Best Denki in front of Fukuoka City station will create and distribute "EVO Japan" clear fillings, etc. Industry, government, academia, and the private sector will work together to support the holding of "EVO Japan 2019" We are looking forward to supporting the EVO Japan 2019 with the cooperation of the industry, government, academia, and the private sector.

NTT DOCOMO, a special sponsor, distributed a limited number of 10,000 original d-point cards with "EVO Japan 2019" specifications. Everyone who registers to use the card will receive 200 points, and another 100 people will receive 1,000 points by lottery. Visitors from overseas will also receive a 300MB coupon for "Japan Welcome SIM," a prepaid SIM service for foreign visitors to Japan. In addition, free Wi-Fi will be available at the venue.

The talk session that followed featured professional gamers Itabashi Zangief and Tanukana. When asked about recent e-sports, they replied, "I think everyone in the vortex is realizing that what was originally done in small communities such as game centers is now gaining recognition. I would like to show that we are serious about the game (Itabashi Zangief). （The media, including TV, has started to pick up on the game, and there are now game vocational schools and high schools for professional gamers, so I think it has become easier to talk about games as a hobby (Tanukana). I think it's becoming easier to talk about e-sports as a hobby.


When asked about players in Fukuoka, where EVO Japan 2019 will be held, he replied, "These days, game strategy information is shared on the Internet, but in the past, each region had its own characteristics, such as everyone copying the play style of the strongest players in that area. Street Fighter" players in Fukuoka have the image of tenacious players (Itabashi Zangief). Tekken" players have always been strong in Osaka, Tokyo, and Fukuoka. There have always been many strong players in Fukuoka, but since most of the big tournaments are held in Tokyo, I think there were people who could not participate due to work commitments or other reasons. I hope you will take this opportunity to compete (Tanukana)," he said, appealing to players in Fukuoka.

Finally, when asked about his enthusiasm for EVO Japan 2019, he replied, "This will be the first tournament for "Street Fighter V" in which I will be participating since the transition from Season 3 to Season 4 last December. I think how well I can do here will be important in terms of predicting my future "Street Fighter V" life, so I will prepare well for the event (Itabashi Zangief). (Itabashi Zangief) Since you had to withdraw from the last "EVO Japan 2018" due to illness, shall we be greedy and aim for the top 8 this time? (Laughs) No, if I'm greedy, I guess I'll go for the championship! (Tarukana, player)".