First Evo Japan tournament set for January 2018

The first official Evo Championship Series tournament for Japan will take place January 2018, organizers announced at Tokyo Game Show.

Evo Japan, which was announced at this year's Evo in Las Vegas, is arriving a little later than some fighting game fans expected, but organizers say that's by design. The team putting together the first-ever Evo Japan say they want to give competitors ample time to plan — and perhaps save money for — the trip to Japan. Evo Japan organizers say they plan to work closely with Japanese fighting game communities on the tournament’s structure and selection of featured games.

Organizers said Evo Japan is planned for January in order to provide enough distance between the Japanese event and the main Evo event, which is typically held in July.

Evo Japan is partnering with local fighting game leagues Topanga and Godsgarden to plan the event. Organizers say they'll also be working with a number of other communities, such as Tokyo Offline Party, Button Mashers, KVO, Judgement Day, Virtua Fighter Relationship and Tekken Mastercup Series, in developing the event.