Evo, the biggest fighting game tournament of the year, starts tomorrow and Capcom, Bandai Namco, and Arc System Works are spreading the joy to those who can’t go the event in person. Running from now until August 6, Street Fighter 5, Tekken 7, and BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle are having a free trials on Steam. Wannabe street fighters who want more can also buy each game for a discounted price until August 6.
This is part of Steam’s Evo sale. Tekken 7, Injustice 2, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator, Street Fighter 5, and BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle are all on sale right now on Steam. Only the aforementioned three titles can currently be played for free right now.
With the exception of the two Super Smash Bros. titles, these games are in the top eight titles being played at Evo. Despite Street Fighter 5‘s long-running reign of having the most participants since its launch in 2016, Dragon Ball FighterZ had the most entries this year, finishing with just over 100 entries ahead of Capcom’s premier fighter. This mostly speaks to excitement surrounding the anime fighter over indifference towards Street Fighter 5 (although that could still be a small factor). The Street Fighter 5 finals will still take center stage at 7:30 pm PT on Sunday.
These trials appear to be only for the basic version of the games. PS4 and Xbox One players will also not be able to partake in the free trials, even though most of the games are also on those platforms. Sony is also not currently holding a special fighting game sale for Evo, despite doing it in past years. The PlayStation Store holds flash sales every month, but usually on the third week, meaning an Evo-themed flash sale isn’t likely but possible. Dragon Ball FighterZ and Tekken 7 are both on sale on the Xbox Store for $47.99 and $29.99, respectively.
UPDATE:
A day after this post went live, Sony did indeed start a flash sale rife with discounts on various fighting games like Street Fighter 5 (and its Arcade Edition), Tekken 7, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection.