2D Fighting Game Weekly — Issue #4: Harada Founds VS Studio, EVO 2026 Entry Counts Drop, Riot Cuts 80 from 2XKO

The biggest FGC story this week has nothing to do with a character reveal — it's Katsuhiro Harada walking into SNK and building something new from scratch.

On May 12, 2026, Katsuhiro Harada — the man who turned Tekken into a global franchise over 30 years at Bandai Namco — officially launched VS Studio, a new game development subsidiary inside SNK. He's the studio's Representative, and he's already surrounded himself with developers he trusts.

What "VS" means is deliberately ambiguous. Harada explained in SNK's announcement video that it carries multiple meanings beyond the obvious "Versus" — a nod to the old "Video game Soft" dev division roots. The studio's first projects haven't been revealed yet, but the combination of Harada's 3D fighting architecture background with SNK's deep 2D legacy (KOF, Fatal Fury, Garou) has the entire FGC watching.

This is the most significant studio founding in the genre since Arc System Works broke through internationally. Harada's history with SNK goes back further than most realize: Geese Howard's appearance in Tekken 7 was one of his personal pushes. Now he's building a house there.

EVO Las Vegas is three weeks out (June 26–28), and the final registration numbers are in. Street Fighter 6 sits alone at the top — 6,536 entrants — a figure that dwarfs every other game on the card:

Overall EVO 2026 attendance is down from 2025's peak, but SF6's dominance is unchanged. 2XKO is on the card as a Major and will be EVO-legal with its current 15-character roster (Senna and Thresh included since June 9). The race for the SF6 bracket title is set up as the centerpiece event of the summer.

It was confirmed this week: Riot Games laid off approximately 80 people from the 2XKO team — roughly half of a development staff that peaked at around 160. Executive Producer Tom Cannon acknowledged the cuts publicly, citing the game's growth metrics not supporting a team of that scale.

The context is blunt: 2XKO launched in January 2026 after a decade in development, debuted with 12 characters, and — despite being mechanically praised — hasn't converted casual League of Legends players into long-term FGC players at the numbers Riot projected.

For comparison, Arc System Works runs its entire multi-game operation with around 233 total staff. 160 developers for a single fighting game title at launch was, by genre standards, an outlier. What the leaner team actually delivers in terms of content cadence over the next two seasons is the real question now.

The game is still at EVO. The dev team is smaller. The fight continues.

Topanga Championship 7 — Yellow Division still rolling (Jun 10–22) Seiya (Chun-Li) is leading the Yellow Division pack. Daigo is at 0-3 and fighting for survival. Advanced Stage runs July 1–15. Grand Finals land August 21–23 in Tokyo with a 15 million yen prize pool. Topanga remains the premier domestic SF6 long-form league.

EVO 2026 — 11 days out (June 26–28, Las Vegas) The world's biggest fighting game tournament starts in under two weeks. SF6, Tekken 8, 2XKO, Guilty Gear Strive all on the main card. Pool Party DLC skins are free for 2XKO EVO competitors.

SF6 — Ingrid Update Live (May 28 patch, still active) Ingrid, Alex, Crimson Viper, and Sagat Outfit 3 DLC are available. The Avatar Arcade mode was added as a free feature update. SF6 Year 4 character schedule: Yasmine arrives August 3, Arjun in Autumn, Tifa in Early 2027, Bosch in Spring 2027.

Coming up: HxH Nen × Impact drops Zeno Zoldyck (final Season Pass 1 DLC) on June 18. Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls launches August 6 with Magneto, Green Goblin, and Carnage already confirmed.