EVO officials put together a shortlist of nine games that were in contention for the final spot, according to a report from Event Hubs. To make their pick, fans simply had to make a donation on behalf of their preferred game, with the title that accumulates the most money being added to the schedule. All proceeds will be donated to Make-a-Wish International.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 took the top spot with $71,690 raised for the charity, while the Wii U’s Pokkén Tournament just barely finished in second place with $66,906 raised. In total, more than $150,000 was raised in charity, including a few thousand toward Windjammers. While the game won’t be at EVO, perhaps all that charity money can go toward a child’s dream of playing the game on PlayStation 4 — oh, wait.
The list of games initially scheduled to be contested at EVO 2017 is comprised of Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Injustice 2, Tekken 7, King of Fighters XIV, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, and Guilty Gear Xrd: Rev 2.
Other games that had been vying for that coveted ninth spot included Mortal Kombat XL, Skullgirls, Killer Instinct, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, ARMS, and Nidhogg.
It’s particularly interesting to see that ARMS was given the opportunity to clinch a spot at the event, given that the game was only recently unveiled as part of Nintendo’s pre-release publicity campaign for the Nintendo switch. The title is expected to release this spring.
EVO 2017 is set to take place in Las Vegas between July 14 and July 16.
Updated on 2-9-2017 by Gabe Gurwin: Updated story to make mention of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3’s victory
