EVO—the biggest yearly fighting game tournament—is now fully owned by RTS—a Gaming Creator talent management and brand consultancy company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC). Before this full ownership came into effect, the tournament was jointly owned by RTS and Indian gaming and events company Nodwin Gaming. According to Shacknews, while RTS might now be in full control, Nodwin Gaming will continue to stay involved to assist EVO with marketing and leadership.
“We are proud of our legacy with Evo that started 5 years ago,” said RTS CEO Stuart Saw in a statement. “We’re going to continue investing in the things that matter to our community, elevating and empowering members of the FGC and working diligently with our game developer partners to ensure that Evo benefits all involved parties”
Despite QIC—an investment fund for Qiddiya City—having a stake, EVO’s schedule for the rest of 2026 doesn’t seem to have seen any changes. According to the press release, the event will be on track for its major tournaments taking place in Tokyo, Japan, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Nice, France. Along with this, RTS has also noted that the tournament’s traditions, values, and identity will “remain unchanged, with a continued focus on serving players, fans and publishers at every level of the industry.”
“Evo is a global gaming institution, built on community, competition, and creativity,” said QIC’s chief strategy officer Muhannad AlDawood. “Through RTS and Qiddiya City, we are committed to supporting Evo’s long-term growth in a way that respects its heritage and strengthens its role within the global Fighting Game Community. This is about investing in the future of play, and safeguarding what makes Evo special.”
RTS first became a stakeholder in EVO as part of a deal it had made alongside PlayStation to purchase the event in 2021. August 2025 would see the latter sell its stakes to Nodwin Gaming. QIC would get involved in the deal at around the same time, originally only investing in RTS before eventually fully acquiring the company.
The fighting game community has been quite outspoken in its criticisms of this deal, with many posts on Reddit calling out Saudi Arabia’s attempts at sportswashing – a method of laundering the country’s reputation by hosting major tourist-attractions and events. One poster went as far as to say that “Evo is dead. Go to your locals,” referring to local tournaments that often form the foundations around which entire fighting game communities are formed.
Some have also taken to suggesting other major tournaments that should get more attention from members of the fighting game community, both in terms of participation as well as viewership. Among these is CEO Gaming-formerly Community Effort Orlando-and Combo Breaker, among many others.
“Support your locals any way you can, folks,” wrote another Reddit user. “I was already on my way out of Evo because I don’t like how corporate the scene has become. I don’t even want fighting games to be a scene anymore, just play and watch the games you like, give feedback that you care about, and growth will come organically.”
Another major investment by Saudi Arabia in the gaming industry recently has been its ongoing acquisition of EA.
