EVO 2020 online tournament canceled after allegations against co-founder

By Aaron Mamiit Published April 25, 2023

The EVO 2020 fighting game championship, which was shifting to an online tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been canceled after sexual abuse allegations against co-founder Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar.

Recommended Videos

EVO 2020, which was set to feature the likes of Mortal Kombat 11, Street Fighter 5 and Tekken 7 in an online tournament that was supposed to run for five weekends starting July 4, will no longer happen after developers withdrew their support.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Mikey “Crackpr0n” Pham made sexual abuse allegations against Cuellar on TwitLonger, involving mostly young boys in the ’90s, and himself in 2001 when he was 18 years old.

The claims prompted NetherRealm Studios, Capcom, and Bandai Namco to drop their participation in EVO 2020, pulling out the games that would headline the event.

We stand in solidarity with those who have spoken out against abuse. We will be pulling MK11 from EVO Online.

— NetherRealm (@NetherRealm) July 2, 2020

pic.twitter.com/x3coSxs3UL

— Capcom Fighters (@CapcomFighters) July 2, 2020

pic.twitter.com/1QNQkvykEv

— Bandai Namco Esports (@BNEesports) July 3, 2020

As more participants also revealed that they will no longer join EVO 2020, Cuellar published a statement that acknowledges Pham’s accusations.

https://twitter.com/MrWiz/status/1278846403716866048

EVO 2020’s organizers then released a statement that the online tournament is canceled, and that it is cutting ties with Cuellar while placing fellow co-founder Tony Cannon in an acting CEO role.

https://twitter.com/EVO/status/1278859734099963904

Refunds will be issued to people who already paid for EVO 2020, with the organization promising to still make a donation to Project Hope.

The cancellation of EVO 2020 is the latest consequence in the series of sexual harassment and abuse allegations that have rocked the gaming industry. Ubisoft, which brought in external consultants to investigate the accusations against several employees, will revise its editorial department, among other changes, according to an open letter by CEO Yves Guillemot. Twitch, meanwhile, has started suspending streamers amid such allegations, though it remains unclear if this is why Dr. Disrespect was banned from the streaming platform.

Topics

Contributor

Aaron received an NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was four years old, and he has been fascinated…

Gaming

Google is about to completely change Android gaming

A person playing a game on the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Android gamers, buckle up: Google is about to change the way you view mobile gaming forever. Today, Google announced that it's expanding its library to include a much larger range of PC games alongside a bevy of other changes coming up at the Game Developers Conference. The platform already includes games like Genshin Impact, Journey of Monarch, and others, but it's also adding new titles like Sonic Rumble, Odin: Valhalla Rising, and Game of Thrones: Kingsroad.

In addition, the full Google Play Games PC library is going to be available on a wider range of devices, including AMD machines. Traditionally PC-focused games like Disco Elysium are also being optimized for mobile gameplay, so you can keep following the story on the go.

Gaming

All confirmed music in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4

tony hawk 3 4 music s pro skater

Activsion knew what it was doing when it revealed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 with the iconic Ace of Spades playing in the background. Those who played these games on the PS2 cannot separate the memories of grinding and flipping through those classic maps. We already know that all the old maps are coming back, plus a ton of skaters, but the big question was about the music. The first pair of remakes managed to bring back most of the old tracklist, but not everything. Here is every confirmed track, new and old, coming to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4.
All confirmed music in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4

Sadly, the full original soundtracks for these games will not be included in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4. Like the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 remake, we will get a majority of the old songs with some new ones mixed in. Currently, we know only wave one of the announced tracks, with future waves being released as we approach the game's launch. You can rock out with the currently release songs right now via the official Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 Spotify playlist that will update with future waves.

Gaming

Copilot for Gaming is like Xbox’s Nintendo tip line, but for AI

Copilot Age of Empires

Copilot for Gaming is an AI that can improve gaming experience, and it's on the way for Xbox players soon. Fatima Kardar, Xbox Corporate VP of Gaming AI, demoed the features on the Official Xbox Podcast and showed how the tool can help players jump right back into a game without much downtime.

It's an experience all gamers know: You come back to a game (like Skyrim) after a long break with no idea why you're wielding a flaming sword, why the townsfolk are angry, or where that huge bounty came from. Or, in simpler applications, you have no memory of what's happening in the story up to that point.