The Evo Championship Series 2009 kicks off this weekend. One weekend, 6 tournaments, 50,000 matches. The worlds’s largest and longest-running fighting game competition is back in Vegas this weekend at the Rio Resort and Casino. The gamers will be playing Street Fighter IV, Soul Calibur IV, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core, Street Fighter III: Third Strike, and a special BlazBlue exhibition.

The tournament will feature:

• – Special appearance by Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono
• – The world’s largest live Street Fighter IV competition
• – Tekken 6 playable on console
• – Watch all the action streaming live, for free, featuring top players and expert commentary
• – The best players from around the US and the world, including Japan’s legendary champion Daigo Umehara
• – The newest build of Tatsunoko Vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars
• – First publicly playable Marvel Vs Capcom 2 for X360 and PSN
• – Complete coverage from IGN Insider, recording HQ, direct-feed tournament matches available for download following the event
• – And more!

If you are in Vegas this weekend, you can attend the event for free and are also welcomed to play at the freeplay stations. For all the people not in Vegas, we all will be able to watch the free stream, which will be running all weekend long. You can watch the stream right here.