EVO 2019 Joke Not Such a “Solid” Idea

Just before the grand finals of Tekken 7 at EVO 2019, Tekken fans received what seemed to be an exciting teaser for yet another guest character in the game. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

ROX Dragons Knee from Korea had just pulled a massive comeback against USA’s Radiance Red Bull Anakin in the losers finals when a codec call (reference to the Metal Gear Solid series) was briefly shown in the EVO big screen. The call appeared to be between Bandai Namco general manager Katsuhiro Harada and Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series who was expressing his approval over the Tekken 7 matches of EVO 2019.

SNAKE?!!??!!? pic.twitter.com/fUIsQnDo8S

— FADEL – Master Of Hype (@MTLSaiyan) August 5, 2019

Considering Tekken 7’s recent history of introducing a number of crazy guest characters into the its roster, the fighting game community mistook this gimmick as an actual teaser for Snake’s inclusion into the game. It wasn’t until after the Tekken 7 time slot that EVO clarified via twitter that the Snake cameo video was just their idea of a little joke, and was not supposed to imply a character reveal.

Just to clear things up, the Snake cameo video that we showed during Tekken finals was our idea of a little joke. It was not intended to imply a character reveal, and was done on our own, without consulting Bandai Namco. Sorry for any confusion!

— EVO (@EVO) August 5, 2019

Knowing that they’ve been duped, many in the gaming community expressed their disappointment over this little stunt. Most were simply disappointed that Snake wasn’t going to be in Tekken 7, while there are some who were worried on its effect on the later revealed third season of the game.

Yeah I’m sorry but that wasn’t funny. Imagine if Kiryu came on and said “that’s some good ass Tekken” and then y’all came and said “Nah that character y’all been asking for for years isn’t coming we were just joking”. I don’t see how that’s supposed to be funny.

— NixUniverse (@UniverseNix) August 5, 2019

That was actually EXTREMELY thoughtless tbh. Disappointing of whoever's idea it was, and very disrespectful to Harada and Bandai Namco. Faking an insane reveal and tease for a character as huge as Snake, then ripping it away could easily damage people's Tekken 7 Season 3 hype.

— 💥LEO💥 (@LeopoldTheBrave) August 5, 2019

Not gonna lie, as funny of a joke that was, I'm pretty sure Bamco is gonna be really pissed if that "joke" ends up killing the Season 3 hype

— Hayabusa97 (@Izanagi97) August 5, 2019

Never again please! The tournament was not over, so it drives the players’ attention to this Snake cameo instead of the finals.

Nothing is impossible with Tekken. They got Negan, Noctis..Snake could have really been possible, so its actually really disappointing it’s not real 😥

— Kayane @ EVO (@Kayane) August 5, 2019

Even David Hayter, voice of Solid Snake and Naked Snake in the Metal Gear Solid series, expressed his disappointment on twitter.

EVO,

You also failed to consult me, or Konami. Please do not use my voice to promote other games. Ever.

DH https://t.co/6ZgCEPVddU

— David Hayter (@DavidBHayter) August 5, 2019

Fighting game fans tune in every year to EVO expecting big announcements and reveals for their favorite titles, and perhaps using a character from a different game to promote Tekken 7 (of all titles) was not the best idea. Hopefully this becomes a solid lesson not just for EVO but to all other organizers and their future events.

READ: Zafina and Leroy Smith (and Snake?) Joins Tekken 7 in Season 3