The Avengers and the Street Fighter roster are not welcome in the world's biggest video-game fighting tournament, as "Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite" is not included in the game lineup.
Evo 2018 has apparently ditched "Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite," meaning the game will not be a part of the official tournament. This may be quite disappointing for some fans since the game is quite popular and is actually lauded as one of the most notable fighting game offerings of 2017.
This was also quite a big omission since throughout the 22-year history of Evo, not one version of "Marvel vs. Capcom" was excluded, making this year the first that the said title was not part of the tournament. Those who have been keeping tabs on the game might then recall that "Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite" did not perform well in the critical and commercial aspects, having only middling reviews and failing to meet the sales target of its publisher. Hence what happened to the game on Evo might not be too surprising at all.
It was not revealed by Evo why "Marvel vs. Capcom" was not included, but seeing how it performed in the market last year, further explanations from the tournament may not be necessary. Because of this exclusion, there is the projection that the game not being included in Evo might indicate its short lifespan in the tournament scene, meaning other official and smaller tournaments might follow suit and ditch "Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite" as well.
Meanwhile, three games will be making their debut in Evo 2018, and these are the critically praised "Dragon Ball FighterZ," "Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2" and "BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle" despite the last one not having a western release until June, two months before the announcements for Evo 2018.
It looks like the developers and publisher of the "Marvel vs. Capcom" game may have to exert more effort if they want to redeem the franchise's eligibility for the next Evo tournament.
