Historic Inaugural Event in Nice
The inaugural Evo France 2025, the first Evolution Championship Series event to be held in Europe, concluded on October 13, 2025, following three days of intense competition from October 10 to 12. Hosted at the Palais des Expositions - Nice Acropolis in Nice, France, the tournament drew a substantial international crowd, with over 3,498 attendees representing more than 65 countries. The event featured a total prize pool of 100,000€ distributed across its main tournament titles.
Evo France 2025 was a landmark occasion, establishing Nice as a significant hub for esports in Europe. The city's commitment to digital culture and competitive gaming was highlighted by the event's success, which broke European records for the largest fighting games tournament, the largest Tekken tournament, and the largest Street Fighter tournament ever organized on the continent.
Tournament Highlights and Champions
Competitors battled across a diverse lineup of popular fighting games. The main tournament titles included:
- Street Fighter 6
- Tekken 8
- Guilty Gear -Strive-
- Granblue Fantasy: Versus -Rising-
- Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
- Dragon Ball FighterZ
- Hunter×Hunter NEN×IMPACT
Notably, 2XKO, a new 2v2 fighting game from Riot Games, made its official tournament debut at Evo France 2025. French player Marwan 'Wawa' Berthe emerged victorious in the 2XKO tournament. Other prominent champions included Leshar for Street Fighter 6, Arslan Ash for Tekken 8, Hikari for Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Xiaohai for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. ONi | Tiger_Pop claimed the title in Guilty Gear -Strive-, FREE | Usagi won Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, and Shinanochan was the champion for Hunter x Hunter Nen x Impact.
Evo France Confirmed for 2026 Return
Following the successful conclusion of its inaugural edition, organizers swiftly announced the return of Evo France to Nice in 2026. The next installment of the premier fighting game tournament is scheduled to take place from October 9 to 11, 2026. This early confirmation underscores the event's positive reception and its established place in the global fighting game community calendar.
The decision to bring Evo France back to Nice for a second year solidifies the city's ambition to be a 'four-season destination' that embraces innovation, dynamism, and diverse cultural events, including esports. The announcement was met with enthusiasm from both the local government and the international fighting game community, eager to see the continued growth of Evo in Europe.
8 Comments
KittyKat
Too many fighting games, not enough variety. Where's X?
Loubianka
The quick announcement for 2026 shows strong commitment and enthusiasm, which is excellent news. Hopefully, they'll also take feedback from this year's attendees to refine logistics and game lineup even further.
Matzomaster
100k prize pool is a joke for an Evo event. Disappointing.
Rotfront
Finally, Evo in Europe! This is huge for the FGC.
Leonardo
An 'esports hub' after one event? Bit premature, no?
paracelsus
Record-breaking attendance, proof that Europe was ready for this.
eliphas
The event's success in attendance is undeniable, showing strong demand. However, the long-term economic benefits for Nice beyond tourism still need to be proven.
anubis
It's fantastic that Europe finally has its own Evo, greatly boosting the local scene. But centralizing it repeatedly in one city might limit reach for other European regions.