\u201cAnytime you have rapid releases of new titles, the entirety of that community seems to rally around [the idea of] \u2018let me try everything, it\u2019s a buffet!\u2019 And I’ve yet to experience anybody who goes to a buffet and doesn’t find a type of food that is their favorite,\u201d Thiher said to Dot Esports. \u201cThe cool thing about the FGC is there are, at this point, a small legion of titles to pick from. And if any of them are your favorite, you’re part of the fighting game community.\u201d<\/p>
While the community is dealing with that buffet, Evo gets to use that same lineup to help grow and evolve its events. Thiher noted this era of fighting games is helping Evo live up to its name\u2014the Evolution Championship Series\u2014because it is letting them zero in on exactly where the event needs to improve to better serve the community.<\/p>
Just over the last month, Evo has started creating new content on YouTube and socials to try and engage the FGC and try and draw new fans into the stories that make the community great, with the end goal being the same as the Evo event series: \u201cto create and renew fighting game fandom.\u201d It isn\u2019t just about making Evo bigger; it’s about celebrating the spirit of competition and the FGC\u2019s history in a way that can be put on display in a \u201cnatural and holistic way.\u201d<\/p>
For Evo 2024, the name of the game was improving things like the admission line and bringing back the three-day Evo experience were key while balancing a need to refine the rest of the show\u2019s offerings and how it connects to the genre it’s celebrating. This event will do something special to bridge that gap as it brings back Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike<\/em> as the game hits its 25th anniversary, and Evo itself can harken back to its most famous clip, Moment 37, on its 20th anniversary.\u00a0<\/p>
As Thiher put it, Evo is still a tournament first and foremost. But the team started looking at it as a festival for fighting games that can help feed the curiosity of anyone with any interest in the scene.\u00a0<\/p>
\u201cWe’re going back to that buffet analogy, but if you bring a bunch of people into a buffet, and everybody’s hungry, it’s not hard to get a whole bunch of people to have a bunch of plates at a table. And if you have enough things in that buffet to then everyone at the table can have a conversation about what they’re eating what’s good about it, what is intriguing about the plate next to them, that conversation keeps the people together,\u201d Thiher said. \u201cAnd if you keep people together around a central subject matter, by and large, I think you wind up with fandom. And better yet, sometimes you wind up with passion. Passion and fandom are going to fuel what Evo is and can become.\u201d<\/p>
