Fighter season 2012 came into full swing on Tuesday when Shoryuken.com announced the full game roster and qualifying tournaments for the 2012 EVO tournament. With 6 games and 17 qualifying rounds, this year’s EVO is the biggest yet.

For those new to the competitive video game circuit, the Evolution Championship Series, commonly called EVO, is an annual video game tournament the focusing exclusively on fighting games.

Fighter Season 2012 Kicks off this Weekend At EVO 2012

Tony Cannon, of Shoryuken.com, founded EVO in 1995. Then called the “Battle by the Bay”, a 40-man Super Street Fighter II Turbo tournament, EVO catered to a close-knit community of fighting gamers.  Since then, the tournament has evolved into a global phenomenon, including every major fighting franchise. In 2004, however, EVO came under heavy criticism for replacing arcade machines with the console version of each game.

This year’s tournament will feature three new games. The late 2011 release King of Fighters XII, and two 1Q releases with SoulCalibur V (January 2012) and the long-awaited Street Fighter x Tekken (March 2012). The official roster also includes:

• Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, Version 2012
• Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3
• Mortal Kombat 9

The Road to EVO integrates with other tournaments, kicking off this weekend with New Jersey’s Apex Tournament Series (6-8). Canadian hopeful will have two opportunities to prove their worth with Toryuken in Toronto (May 4-6) and the Montreal Annual Tournament (June 3-4).  Other official dates include:

• Winter Brawl, Philadelphia, PA Feb 18-19
• OzHadou Nationals X, Sydney, Australia Feb 17-19
• Final Round, Atlanta, GA March 2-4
• South East Asia Major, Bugis Arcade, Singapore Mar 17-18
• NorCal Regionals 10, March 24-25
• Texas Showdown, Houston, Texas April 6-8
• PowerUp 2012, Cincinnati, Ohio April 13-15
• Team Mad Catz Championships, San Diego, CA April 13-15
• Season’s Beatings: Summer Slam, Columbus, OH May 5th
• Northwest Majors, Seattle, WA May 26th
• Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament 8, Chicago, IL May 25-27
• East Coast Throwdown, Morristown, NJ June 9-10
• CEO 2012, Orlando, FL June 15-17
• Midwest Championships 2012, Nashville, TN June 22-24

The Road to EVO leads to the grand finale on July 6-8 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Like previous years, EVO will stream life, so gaming fans worldwide can watch Justin Wong and other elite players battle for supremacy.