Get your fightsticks, controllers and hitboxes at the ready.
Evo, one of the biggest fighting game tournaments in the world, is set to kick off in Las Vegas later this week. Over 10,000 participants will duke it out across eight games to try and take home the top prize and, for games like Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6, secure themselves a spot on the game's respective leaderboards
It's one of my favourite times of the year, like Christmas with dragon punches and hellsweeps. It's always around now that I get the itch to dive back into some old favourites and try new fighting games too. If you're in the same boat as me, then you're in luck. Steam has just kicked off the Fighting Games Fest, offering some meaty discounts on a ton of different fighters.
A lotta these games are at their lowest recorded price according to SteamDB, though a lot of 'em have also been this price as recently as the Steam Summer Sale. Of the eight games on offer at EVO this weekend, all but Street Fighter 6 and 3rd Strike (which you can play on PC as part of the 30th Anniversary Collection) are on sale:
Of these, I'd personally recommend picking up Tekken 8 and Guilty Gear Strive. The former is, at this point, the sole surviving 3D fighting game (sorry, Soulcalibur) and despite some incredibly frustrating monetisation choices, is still my go-to game for virtually pummeling other folk. Guilty Gear Strive, on the other hand, is a 2D anime fighter with gorgeous visuals and a cast of incredibly cool looking characters. It's got a thriving community and is one of the more popular choices alongside Tekken and Street Fighter, especially at a competitive level.
Some non-Evo but noteworthy mentions include Dragon Ball FighterZ, which is currently a huge 84% off. Annoyingly, that's an entire one percent off its lowest-recorded price last seen in March, but the extra pennies are still worth it. Soulcalibur 6 is also going for a low price, with it being 90% off. Don't tell the Tekken players this, but it's the superior 3D fighter in my opinion, unfortunately let down by shockingly bad online netcode and a competitive scene that never quite took off during Covid. If you're not too fussed about jumping online and going against other real-life folk, it's well worth grabbing.
There are plenty more fighting games on sale—Smashlike Rivals of Aether, Dead or Alive 6 and Samurai Shodown just to name a few—but the above are definitely the ones most worth grabbing if you're looking to throw some videogame hands.
The sale is running now until July 22 at 10 AM PT, which is just enough time to sneak in and grab a few games if Evo ends up giving you the fighting game itch.
