Fighting Games Have An Accessibility Problem But Not Because Of The Games Themselves

My first Evo was all the way back in 2003, when it was held at Cal Poly Pomona. It was a ragtag yet passionate operation where a bunch of weirdos crammed into one of the university's big halls to play fighting games and watch the best of the best from across North America (and the Japanese players they convinced to come attend) duke it out. There were a bunch of PlayStation 2 consoles and arcade machines, a few projection screens, and some seats if you wanted to either watch or play some games. There were no ads or major announcements--the entertainment during downtime consisted of fan-made combo videos and somebody playing the overhead levels of Contra III. Despite all of the tech hiccups and the obvious drive to run things as cheaply as possible, we all loved it there.

Never would I have dreamed that, almost a quarter-century later, Evo would become one of gaming's most-talked-about annual events: a celebration of love and community in fighting games that even people not really into the genre would tune in to watch online. Evo now occupies an entire, massive hall in the Las Vegas Convention Center, where thousands of players from around the world come for a chance to compete and share their passion for fighting games in a variety of ways--be it entering tournaments, running side events, drawing and selling art in the Artists Alley, cosplaying, or just playing casual sets all day with people they've never met before. In a way, the main Evo event has morphed from a tournament into a full-blown fighting game convention, where the tournaments are now just a major part of the show, not necessarily the sole reason why many of the people are there.

But with that rapid growth has come a massive price tag. If you didn't purchase admission early, a weekend competition pass to Evo 2025 was around $250, plus $10 for each of the official tournament games you wanted to enter. If you paid early and just wanted to watch or play casuals with other attendees, that would still set you back $180. That's not taking into account all of the other expenses: gas or airfare to get to Las Vegas, and then lodging, transportation, food once you're there. And that doesn't take into account a bunch of other miscellaneous expenses you might unexpectedly run into (Is your joystick bag too big? That's a checked-bag fee). Sure, there are ways to cut costs--the tried-and-true method of cramming a gaggle of people into a single hotel room is a favorite--but oftentimes they can wind up costing just as much or more. Staying at a cheaper hotel that's farther away from the LVCC? The moment you step into 105-degree Vegas summer heat, you're going to ditch the idea of walking and get a Lyft instead.