Last year, the Evo Awards were held for the first time to celebrate the fighting game community as a whole and of course provide some big announcements too.
The organizers of the largest fighting game events in the world are currently preparing to hold the Evo Awards for the second time, and the community will have a say in who shall be celebrated on the big stage.
With the nomination period over, the final award nominees for all categories have been revealed.
The public can now vote on their top choices across a variety of topics on the official Evo website.
This voting period will be open until February 20, so there’s almost a full month to make your picks.
Categories this year include Best Artist, Best Character, Best Combo, Best Commentary Moment, Best Content Creator, Best Cosplay, Best Custom Controller, Best Dressed, Best Game Release, Best Local, Best Meme, Best Online Series, Best Pop Off, Best Product, Comeback of the Year, Commentator of the Year, Match of the Year, Moment of the Year, Player of the Year, and They’ve Got Next.
The nominees for Player of the Year are Xiao Hai, Blaz, Arslan Ash, Go1 and MenaRD.
Previously, the organizers revealed the full game lineups for the main Evo and Evo Japan 2026 events that will be taking place in June and May respectively.
The Evo Awards 2026 is scheduled to be held on March 28 in Los Angeles, California.
You can check out some of the major award categories and nominations below.
Player of the Year
• Xiao Hai
• Blaz
• Arslan Ash
• Go1
• MenaRD
Match of the Year
• Xiao Hai vs. LauYagami
• Blaz vs. Mister Crimson
• Go1 vs. ET
• Psycho vs. Blaz
• Bigblack vs. Defiant
Moment of the Year
• LauYagami winning SWC
• Mister Crimson’s comeback
• Punk standing up
• MenaRD’s Evo 2025 win
• KojiKOG’s crashout
They’ve Got Next
• Hinao
• Neia
• Blaz
• Riddles
• Micky
Best Local
• Iron Grid
• 404 Esports
• RunTheMix
• King’s Cup
• Rivercity Rushdown
Best Online Series
• Tampa Never Sleeps
• La Gema
• Breakout Series
• Paragonline
• Motivation Academy
Best Character
• Mai Shiranui
• Ryu
• Ekko
• Potemkin
• Armor King
Best Game Release
• Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage
• Hunter x Hunter Nen Impact
• 2XKO
• Capcom Fighting Collection 2
• Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
Best Content Creator
• Brian_F
• SharkParty
• Rooflemonger
• Sajam
• Diaphone