Evo Japan 2026 registration has been open for about a month, and the number of registered fighters has shown a clear favourite in the FGC: Street Fighter 6.
Evo Japan is set to bring the top fighting game pros in the world to Tokyo on May 1st, featuring a lineup of mainstay fighting titles and newcomers. While the hype is real, the FGC is concerned with the number of registered fighters one month in.
Evo Japan 2026 Registration Seems Low, Except For Street Fighter 6
According to Evo Japan’s official Start.gg page, around 3,000 fighters have signed up to compete in the massive FGC showcase. Here are the numbers as of January 7th, 2026:
- Street Fighter 6: 2,575
- Guilty Gear -Strive-: 199
- Tekken 8: 148
- Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire: 132
- Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising: 122
- Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves: 111
- 2XKO: 110
- Fist of the North Star: 56
- Melty Blood: Type Lumina: 55
- The King of Fighters XV: 52
- Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O.: 42
- Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes: 34
The first thing that stood out to the FGC was the disparity in numbers between Street Fighter 6 and the other titles in the lineup. Street Fighter 6 has over 2.5K registered fighters while the next highest sign-up count, Guilty Gear – Strive-, only has 199.
“SF6 has totally consumed the FGC. I’m happy a fighting game is mainstream again, but the number difference with other FGs is honestly depressing,” said one X account after seeing the registration at Evo Japan. “If you’re a beginner, please try other fighting games too! Besides Street Fighter!”
These numbers are not all too shocking, however. Street Fighter 6 has had the highest registration in past Evo events as well, including Evo 2025 in Las Vegas. Street Fighter 6 had over 6,500 registrated SF6 players while the second-highest title, Tekken 8, had 960.
However, this brings up another concern that the FGC has about the Evo Japan 2026 registration numbers. The overall competitor count feels low compared to previous Evo events. Having just 3,000 registered fighters a month into sign-ups is a lot lower than expected, although Evo itself claimed 1,500 signed up within the first three days and expects a big event.
With 3.5 months left ahead of Evo Japan 2026, there could be plenty more signups. Between January 6th and January 7th, the number of Street Fighter 6 registrants shot up by about 500. Of course, the other titles saw only a handful of new registered fighters in that time.
