The lineup for Evo 2018 has been finalized as of tonight. The list of eight officially featured included the debuts of Dragon Ball FighterZ and Tekken 7 and the returns of stalwarts like Street Fighter and Super Smash Bros. Melee. What it didn't include was Marvel vs Capcom Infinite, the troubled latest entry in Capcom's Versus series. This news comes on the heels of Capcom announcing their 2018 Pro Tour plans, which focus exclusively on Street Fighter V despite Marvel's inclusion in the 2017 tour before its official release.
https://twitter.com/EVO/status/961066305607446528
Released this past September to mixed critical reception, Infinite was seemingly written off by the wider fighting game community upon release. Still, it was widely expected that the game would find a spot at Evo due to the franchise's storied history. Games with less than stellar reception from Capcom have still seen competition at the event, including a two-year run for Street Fighter X Tekken. Sales of Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite have apparently been disappointing to Capcom to date, being half of the 2 million that they'd been expecting since launch in September 2017.
Marvel vs Capcom has been one of the cornerstones of the tournament in years past, producing some of the best remembered moments in main stage history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvnQ7dB6q2E
Several past competitors have taken to Twitter to express their disappointment in the news, while still offering hope for the game's small but dedicated fanbase.
https://twitter.com/JayViscant/status/961069783096545280
https://twitter.com/JWonggg/status/961067527416700933
https://twitter.com/gcyoshi13/status/961083766662811648
A special thanks to SaoDVD for the transparent Goku used in this article's header image.