Street Fighter 6 just held the biggest fighting game tournament ever, at Evo Japan 2026.
With Capcom Cup and Esports World Cup qualification on the line, a record-breaking 7,168 players signed up for the tournament.
This means Street Fighter 6 at Evo Japan 2026 now holds the Guinness World Record for the most participants in a single fighting game tournament.
The record was previously 7,083, set by Street Fighter 6 at Evo Last Vegas 2023.
These numbers speak to just how popular Street Fighter 6 is in Japan.
Evo Japan is a major event in the FGC calendar, but the fact that it sported similar numbers to the Las Vegas version of the event is very impressive.
Last year, Street Fighter 6 helped Evo Japan attract a record number of sign-ups, with 6,500 Street Fighter players taking the event up to 8,795 participants total.
This year, that record has also been shattered as Evo Japan 2026 attracted 10,231 participants, making it the biggest iteration of the event yet.
However, the upcoming Evo event in Las Vegas could very likely sport even greater numbers.
Yamaguchi Crowned Evo Japan 2026 Street Fighter 6 Champion
Of the record-breaking 7,000+ participants, it was home-country hero Eisuke ‘Yamaguchi’ Yamaguchi who came out as champion.
This was Yamaguchi’s first-ever Evo title as his Mai defeated Victor ‘Punk’ Woodley’s Cammy in the final to allow the Japanese pro to claim the grand prize of just over $25k.
Another Japanese pro, Kojiro Higuchi, finished third, while Taiwanese competitor Lin ‘Hope’ Jun-xi claimed fourth.
However, only Yamaguchi and Punk earned slots at the lucrative Esports World Cup tournament taking place later this year.
What was your favourite moment of Evo Japan 2026? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord.
Meanwhile, seven new Invincible DLC fighters have allegedly leaked with possibly four years’ worth of content.
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