This Evolution Championship Series It’s back live for the first time since 2019. Major fighting game tournament events move forward under new guidelines for COVID-19 protection for participants and new PlayStation ownership and management. Many fighting game fans were concerned that the changes could throw EVO into turmoil, but the weekend has gone well so far — with one notable exception. Viewers on Twitch, even attendees, expressed frustration with the frequent, extended ad breaks. EVO is listening, though.
EVO general manager Rick “The Hadou” Thiher posted a message to those watching at home on Sunday morning. Thiher told fighting game fans that he was “working to reduce the number of ads for the rest of the day”. Unfortunately, no follow-up has been provided since, so it’s unclear if any changes have been made to the broadcast or Twitch streaming. At the very least, EVO is aware of the criticism and is looking into what can be done.
Delays have been a traditional part of EVO for many years. Understandably, tournaments with thousands of entrants may not be easy to schedule. For many watching EVO 2022, however, the delay wasn’t an issue with any form of play. Instead, take frequent breaks to run ads for EVO’s partners as well as Twitch ads. Viewers may have noticed more frequent flashback matches used to fill time when Twitch commercials air.
It’s unclear why EVO 2022 has more commercials than previous shows. The new ownership of the EVO management team and PlayStation may have higher monetization requirements than previous shows. There may be more partners this year than in previous years, resulting in more frequent advertising. This year’s race may even be more disorganized than previous years, leading to more ad breaks to make up for the schedule disruption.
Even if EVO realizes that viewers are frustrated with lengthy commercials, that doesn’t mean it will necessarily be able to make any changes. Advertising requirements are usually written into contracts and obviously cannot be changed at the last minute. The situation at EVO 2022 is confusing, but at least that can change with future EVO events.
With or without changes, EVO 2022 will run through the rest of Sunday.Although the final King of Fighters It has ended, Tekken 8, street fighter 5and Guilty Gear Effort still coming up.Gamers can look forward to some big, memorable moments, hopefully ending with fewer ads EVO 2022.
