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[Pelta88]

I'm watching live and I'm amazed by how well they're advertising their ecosystem, tournament features, consoles, third party partnerships, Spider-Man 2 30 second tv add set to air later on TV, Peripherals (fight sticks, fight pads headsets etc etc) As well as the entire FGC roster of games from Guilty Gear, to Tekken, to the upcoming MK 1 as well as Street Fighter 6 also Sony tv and movie promos.

They're showcasing these moments that go viral with the broader gaming community, and at the same time solidifying the PS platform as the go to for the entire FGC genre. To the point where a popular FGC player commented recently that, the 2023 Evo event, which is the largest in the tournaments history, feels more like a celebration.

But what's most impressive is how far and wide the audience at the actual event has come from, From Europe to South America and literally everywhere in between. Each and every one of them with a PS controller or fight stick in hand. Ready to rumble.

Antics from just 1 stage after a win

 

[Spyxos]

The purchase seems somehow strange to me. Sure, they can promote their ecosystem during the broadcast, but they could have spent the money better somewhere else. If Sony had their own first party fighting games it would make a lot more sense.

 

[ulantan]

Solidifying yourself as the main hub for a genere of games is a strong play

 

[Rentahamster]

The purchase seems somehow strange to me. Sure, they can promote their ecosystem during the broadcast, but they could have spent the money better somewhere else.

The ROI on this is going to be good in the long run. I don't think there were that many better options at this price point

 

[Gojiira]

Well Playstation is the defacto hub for Fighting Games, and the money that Esports generate is always rising it seems so seems like a good investment.

 

[Unknown?]

The purchase seems somehow strange to me. Sure, they can promote their ecosystem during the broadcast, but they could have spent the money better somewhere else. If Sony had their own first party fighting games it would make a lot more sense.

I don't think so, it ensures any game in the genre that doesn't come to the platform will be pretty much dead.

 

[Pelta88]

The purchase seems somehow strange to me. Sure, they can promote their ecosystem during the broadcast, but they could have spent the money better somewhere else. If Sony had their own first party fighting games it would make a lot more sense.

They've literally locked up an entire genre of gaming, to themselves. I'd say that's money extremely well spent.

Just think of the royalty licensing money when all the associated peripherals cater to just your platform. And that's just one aspect.

 

[Black_Stride]

I don't think so, it ensures any game in the genre that doesn't come to the platform will be pretty much dead.

Didnt we just celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Killer Instinct at EVO 2023?
Wasnt Smash one of the most popular when it released.
Kazuyas announcement had one of the biggest if not the biggest pop at his reveal.

Its a good movie for Sony, I dunno if its much of a drop in the ocean for the Playstation brand itself.
Most multiplatform fighting games are most played on Playstation even before the EVO purchase, the DualShock was widely considered the better pad for fighting games already anyway vs the Pro and Xbox controllers.

I dont think Sony had any worries hold to FGC on their platform, their only real competition is PC now that more fighting games are actually released on Steam with crossplay.

 

[Unknown?]

Didnt we just celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Killer Instinct at EVO 2023?
Wasnt Smash one of the most popular when it released.
Kazuyas announcement had one of the biggest if not the biggest pop at his reveal.

Its a good movie for Sony, I dunno if its much of a drop in the ocean for the Playstation brand itself.
Most multiplatform fighting games are most played on Playstation even before the EVO purchase, the DualShock was widely considered the better pad for fighting games already anyway vs the Pro and Xbox controllers.

I dont think Sony had any worries hold to FGC on their platform, their only real competition is PC now that more fighting games are actually released on Steam with crossplay.

KI launched horribly and yeah I was going to mention except for Smash but felt it was implied.

Any new fighting game released that isn't smash will be like a fart in the wind.

 

[Dream-Knife]

Fighting games besides smash are niche, so probably not. Most games there were played on playstations already weren't they?

 

[ReBurn]

It made sense to me as I always buy and play multiplat fighters on PlayStation.

 

[Draugoth]

They bought it because it was on a promo.

 

[Pelta88]

I don't think so, it ensures any game in the genre that doesn't come to the platform will be pretty much dead.

Just came across this tweet where well known XBOX guys are downplaying their own exclusive in favour of MK and SF. KI has it's own place within the FGC but they literally can't see it.

 

[DrFigs]

If it helps people to keep buying fighting games, it helps them out in the long run. it must be profitable for them because they also do other tournaments not related to evo.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Ironic because I consider KI one of the very best fighters. Its with SF6 the most fun 2D fighter I played in years.

Didnt we just celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Killer Instinct at EVO 2023?
Wasnt Smash one of the most popular when it released.
Kazuyas announcement had one of the biggest if not the biggest pop at his reveal.

Its a good movie for Sony, I dunno if its much of a drop in the ocean for the Playstation brand itself.
Most multiplatform fighting games are most played on Playstation even before the EVO purchase, the DualShock was widely considered the better pad for fighting games already anyway vs the Pro and Xbox controllers.

I dont think Sony had any worries hold to FGC on their platform, their only real competition is PC now that more fighting games are actually released on Steam with crossplay.

These stats are interesting. Out of 27k, only 25% of Xbox players actually played. On PC and PS5 this is like 70%. The amount of applies is low on Xbox too. Its not a viable platform for fighters, thats for sure. Tekken is one of the biggest out there.

 

[AmuroChan]

Yes, it's a good strategic movie. It's a low-risk purchase that serves as a consistent, passive income stream for Sony.

 

[Pelta88]

Ironic because I consider KI one of the very best fighters. Its with SF6 the most fun 2D fighter I played in years.



These stats are interesting. Out of 27k, only 25% of Xbox players actually played. On PC and PS5 this is like 70%. The amount of applies is low on Xbox too. Its not a viable platform for fighters, thats for sure. Tekken is one of the biggest out there.

The peripheral market with worth 100s of millions if not billions across the span of a generation. Being in the FGC, you'll notice that companies don't actually make XB version. There are a few of course, Hori being one and victrix being another. But they either arrive late and in most other cases not at all. That is a gargantuan amount of royalties XBOX isn't able to capitalize on.

Sure, some one will post Microsoft's market cap asap. But having an entire genre missing from your platform has long term implications.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

The purchase seems somehow strange to me. Sure, they can promote their ecosystem during the broadcast, but they could have spent the money better somewhere else. If Sony had their own first party fighting games it would make a lot more sense.

I see your point to a degree, though I think if they had their own fighting game, it would overshadow the rest of the games to a degree, which might cause some issues like we saw with Smash Bros pulling out.

It might be more beneficial for Sony to be seen as the go to place for fighting games, rather than have their own first party fighting game.

Going further, they can parlay Evo into expansion into other eSports areas.

 

[cash_longfellow]

Nobody cares about esports anymore. I mean, there’s money in it for Sony, but it’s going to be short lived.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Didnt we just celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Killer Instinct at EVO 2023?
Wasnt Smash one of the most popular when it released.
Kazuyas announcement had one of the biggest if not the biggest pop at his reveal.

Its a good movie for Sony, I dunno if its much of a drop in the ocean for the Playstation brand itself.
Most multiplatform fighting games are most played on Playstation even before the EVO purchase, the DualShock was widely considered the better pad for fighting games already anyway vs the Pro and Xbox controllers.

I dont think Sony had any worries hold to FGC on their platform, their only real competition is PC now that more fighting games are actually released on Steam with crossplay.

It's interesting to see people have a reactive mindset to competition.

This was a proactive move. Sony saw a strength and they are looking to keep it a strength rather than putting tons of money in after that strength dwindles.

If you can ensure fighting game players think of PlayStation as the primary console to play on, that's steady revenue for years if not generations.

You look at companies who have squandered market share and no one really stops to ask why.

Look at Sony themselves who are no longer major players in the platform market, which used to be one of their biggest sellers. I'm sure they'd love a platformer that sold 5-10 million copies a release right now, but that userbase has firmly shifted to Switch and as a result Sony struggles to sell games that are more family oriented.

They also failed to double down on FPS. There was a time when Killzone and Resistance were just as successful as CoD on console before Modern Warfare was released. Sony let Xbox take the FPS crown and same with western RPGs, which have now become more popular than Japanese RPGs.

So when you look at Xbox's resilient market share, it comes from areas where Sony more or less dropped the ball.

 

[ulantan]

Nobody cares about esports anymore. I mean, there’s money in it for Sony, but it’s going to be short lived.

Fighting games are the the oldest and they have only grown in popularity

 

[64bitmodels]

I mean.... sure. It's very smart basically consolidating an entire genre of game to PS thanks to the EVO purchase. But like, why get so excited over EVO now being a Playstation event specifically? EVO is cool because it's EVO, not because it's Playstation.... A lot of the best parts of the event come from the years prior to the Playstation release when it was a self owned grassroots tournament where everyone who loved FGs came together. in what way does this benefit the event itself?

 

[ulantan]

I mean.... sure. It's very smart basically consolidating an entire genre of game to PS thanks to the EVO purchase. But like, why get so excited over EVO now being a Playstation event specifically? EVO is cool because it's EVO, not because it's Playstation.... A lot of the best parts of the event come from the years prior to the Playstation release when it was a self owned grassroots tournament where everyone who loved FGs came together. in what way does this benefit the event itself?

Every game this year has has a baseline 25k prize pool.

 

[cash_longfellow]

Fighting games are the the oldest and they have only grown in popularity

Understandable, but esports in general are fading.

Especially as it pertains to being profitable.

 

[ulantan]

Understandable, but esports in general are fading.

This is the biggest evo ever and fighting games have only grown in popularity

 

[cash_longfellow]

This is the biggest evo ever and fighting games have only grown in popularity

Esports in general…check the numbers. EVO isn’t the only outlet.

 

[64bitmodels]

Every game this year has has a baseline 25k prize pool.

I mean that's cool and all, its double the previous tournaments. But even then it doesnt begin to hold a candle to the amount of money Fortnite tournaments will give. Isn't Sony richer than Epic?

I don't even want 10 or 20 million dollar prize pools. But something like 1 million per game would've raised the stakes much higher.

 

[ulantan]

Esports in general…check the numbers. EVO isn’t the only outlet.

That's what makes fighting games special. unlike any other esport as long as at least 2 people think that they are better than the other they will play and people will watch. As long as fighting games improve thier quality and draw more and more people in there will always be an audience. And if you you own the biggest tournament and have one of the biggest prize pools people will show up. You don't need teams or the traditional esports structure the audience are aslo the competition.

 

[ulantan]

I mean that's cool and all, its double the previous tournaments. But even then it doesnt begin to hold a candle to the amount of money Fortnite tournaments will give. Isn't Sony richer than Epic?

I don't even want 10 or 20 million dollar prize pools. But something like 1 million per game would've raised the stakes much higher.

Sure but even this is more money than some of those games have ever seen. It's a step in the right direction.

 

[The Pleasure]

Will we bring back the joy of thuggery?

 

[Xyphie]

Pretty much everyone in the esports space says it's a shit business that doesn't make any money so probably not. Hell, Sony doesn't even own any of the games played at Evo meaning at most they get a 30% cut from any revenue derived from game sales.

 

[cash_longfellow]

That's what makes fighting games special. unlike any other esport as long as at least 2 people think that they are better than the other they will play and people will watch. As long as fighting games improve thier quality and draw more and more people in there will always be an audience. And if you you own the biggest tournament and have one of the biggest prize pools people will show up. You don't need teams or the traditional esports structure the audience are aslo the competition.

I agree completely. Fighting game esports won’t go anywhere any time soon, but esports as a whole is in trouble.

 

[Dr_Salt]

EVO and the fgc have always been multicultural, this has been happening for more than 10 years now. I hope you are not implying this has something to do with Sony.

 

[The Pleasure]

EVO and the fgc have always been multicultural, this has been happening for more than 10 years now. I hope you are not implying this has something to do with Sony.

More than 20. It was Battle by the Bay in 1996 and became Evo in 2002.

 

[Dr_Salt]

More than 20. It was Battle by the Bay in 1996 and became Evo in 2002.

Yep, not sure if it was as multicultural 20 years ago as it is today but it sure has been since SF4.

 

[T0minator]

Now that Sony's got EVO they should really consider developing a fighting game of their own. Their own AAA fighting game.

Nintendo and Xbox have there's, PlayStation needs theirs eventually

 

[Kusarigama]

Just came across this tweet where well known XBOX guys are downplaying their own exclusive in favour of MK and SF. KI has it's own place within the FGC but they literally can't see it.

FGC is a niche within the gaming community in general. Majority of gaming community doesn't understand fighting games properly. It is that simple. Even among games media channels, very few understand the nuances of fighting games.

These xcast people (and a lot of other mainstream gaming media people) are bunch of casuals when it comes to fighting games. I do not even pay attention to what they say.

 

[mrmustard]

I had to google Evo Tournament + FGC and i'm no casual. Doubt this will be a huge step fotward for the Playstation brand.

 

[Pelta88]

Understandable, but esports in general are fading.

Especially as it pertains to being profitable.

Pretty much everyone in the esports space says it's a shit business that doesn't make any money so probably not. Hell, Sony doesn't even own any of the games played at Evo meaning at most they get a 30% cut from any revenue derived from game sales.

I think you might be slightly confused about Esports and the FGC. They're not the same. The FGC was birthed in the arcades and while it has grown in popularity it remains true to it's roots so to speak. E-sports, is something different entirely. Yes, technically, any game can be an E-sport but if you ask members of the fgc if they consider what goes on within our community, E-sports...

They'll most likely laugh at you.

 

[jroc74]

Of course it was.

I remember some ppl making fun of it at the time. Every acquisition doesn't have to be front page news worthy.

There are several other strategic acquisitions Sony did that didnt get alot of attention.

 

[jm89]

Just came across this tweet where well known XBOX guys are downplaying their own exclusive in favour of MK and SF. KI has it's own place within the FGC but they literally can't see it.

The other problem is, it won't come out on playstation.

MS will release on xbox and pc, whle pc is a big platform for fighting games your stil missing the even bigger player base on playstation for fighting games, so they are handicapped from the get go.

 

[Xyphie]

I think you might be slightly confused about Esports and the FGC. They're not the same. The FGC was birthed in the arcades and while it has grown in popularity it remains true to it's roots so to speak. E-sports, is something different entirely. Yes, technically, any game can be an E-sport but if you ask members of the fgc if they consider what goes on within our community, E-sports...

They'll most likely laugh at you.

What the FGC thinks or doesn't think they are I really don't care about. The Evo business model is an esports business model so that's what I'm calling it.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Didnt we just celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Killer Instinct at EVO 2023?
Wasnt Smash one of the most popular when it released.
Kazuyas announcement had one of the biggest if not the biggest pop at his reveal.

Its a good movie for Sony, I dunno if its much of a drop in the ocean for the Playstation brand itself.
Most multiplatform fighting games are most played on Playstation even before the EVO purchase, the DualShock was widely considered the better pad for fighting games already anyway vs the Pro and Xbox controllers.

I dont think Sony had any worries hold to FGC on their platform, their only real competition is PC now that more fighting games are actually released on Steam with crossplay.

Yet people keep asking how Sony acquires these deals and exclusives. That’s a drastic discrepancy in beta test numbers especially for an anticipated title like Tekken 8.

 

[Pelta88]

What the FGC thinks or doesn't think they are I really don't care about. The Evo business model is an esports business model so that's what I'm calling it.

You are literally contradicting yourself to create a false narrative.

Clearly you're being disingenuous, so imma leave you to the mental gymnastics which allows you to conflate. For the record, FGC tournaments were a thing before the internet, streaming, and a prize pool.

 

[Dr_Salt]

Also this has been happening apparently.

 

[lh032]

Also this has been happening apparently.

sounds bull to me, i have USB plugged in behind the PS5, and i live in hot humid country, nothing happens.

 

[FinalBossWithTheMostPower]

Seems like them flailing to be honest.

 

[Dr_Salt]

sounds bull to me, i have USB plugged in behind the PS5, and i live in hot humid country, nothing happens.

You understand there are more than 7K people using these consoles and they have been running for more than 12 hours no?

 

[Xyphie]

You are literally contradicting yourself to create a false narrative.

Clearly you're being disingenuous, so imma leave you to the mental gymnastics which allows you to conflate. For the record, FGC tournaments were a thing before the internet, streaming, and a prize pool.

Here's what Evo does:

Host a tournament with a prize pool.
Players (which are often members of esports orgs) fly in to compete.
Stream tournament online on Twitch/YouTube/whatever.
Try to make money back on sponsorships, tickets and merchandise.

You wanna call that something other than esports that's fine. I'm calling it esports because literally the same thing is called esports in any other game.

 

[lh032]

You understand there are more than 7K people using these consoles and they have been running for more than 12 hours no?

lol what?

So? you telling me the PS5 temperature kept rising the longer its turn on?

Even the PS5 runs more than 1000 hours and more than 100k people using it, it doesnt mean shit here xD