
Evo Japan is breaking records for holding the largest Street Fighter tournament in history, with over 7,000 players lined up to compete, and it’s now been recognized by the Guinness World Records.
Evo Japan, an offshoot of the famous Las Vegas fighting game tournament, is taking place this weekend in Tokyo, drawing over 10,000 total competitors across a variety of different games.
However, Street Fighter 6 is far and away the most popular title of the weekend, and it’s not even close. In fact, it’s breaking records for the largest Street Fighter tournament ever.
Street Fighter 6 dwarfs every other game at Evo Japan
Final registration numbers for Evo Japan show that a total of 7,685 players have signed up to participate in Street Fighter 6, the latest entry in Capcom’s beloved fighting game series.
However, sources at Evo tell us this number does not reflect the true amount of players participating in the bracket; start gg has a large amount of byes to facilitate the sheer size of the bracket, making the true number of unique entrants slightly less.
The final, official number came in at 7,168.
What’s more shocking is the fact that registration numbers for other titles still don’t come close to that amount; Tekken 8 boasts 882 participants, with Guilty Gear Strive close behind at 740 registrants.
It’s worth noting that those registration numbers for the other games were also taken from start gg and may not reflect the true number of participants.
EvoEvo Japan boasts a 30,000,000 yen prize pool – around 1.8 million USD.
“The fervor for fighting games in Japan is reaching new heights, and Evo is celebrating that enthusiasm with our biggest Evo Japan yet,” said Rick Thiher, Evo’s General Manager.
“Filling even more of Tokyo Big Sight with the competition, culture, and community that inspires competitive fighting games is the best kick off for Evo’s global tournament calendar I can imagine for 2026.”
This massive gap in registered players is unprecedented for a tournament that focuses on many fighting games, and speaks to Street Fighter 6’s overwhelming popularity in Japan since its launch in 2023.
The game has been a massive hit in the country over the past three years. In September 2023, it racked up over 800 million hours watched that September; as of February 2026, it was the third most-watched game on Twitch in the country with over 6 million hours watched.
It’s currently unclear if Evo Japan will feature a character announcement, as Ingrid’s gameplay trailer was published just a week before the first day of the tournament.
However, Summer Game Fest is fast approaching, and players are excitedly awaiting news of the next round of DLC characters… one of whom is rumored to be Final Fantasy VII’s Tifa Lockheart.







