Evo 2021 Online has concluded and the top eight players are ready to face off at the Evo 2021 Showcase in Las Vegas later this year. In addition to the high-skill competition, the championship series is also known for announcing new game updates, which fans are eagerly awaiting.

Below are the main announcements and the reasons for them.

Guilty Gear Strive has taken the fighting community by storm since its release a few months ago. Its easy controls and stunning graphics have made it the hottest fighting game on the market. And Arc System Works is hoping that a steady stream of new fighters can keep the scene from becoming overwhelmingly strong. That brings us to Jack O, who was announced last week.

Jack O is the second DLC fighter for Strive, and he's one hell of a character: first introduced in Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator, this unique character uses his adorable and deadly minions to finish off his opponents.

It is worth noting, however, that this new iteration of her seems to have made some meaningful changes to her kit. Some of her classic moves, such as the bubble shield, are now placed directly on the minions along with a countdown timer. Additionally, the minions all share the same weapon and moveset and can be summoned and commanded individually.

Currently, both Chip and Solvad Guy characters reign at the top of the Streve meta. Both characters were also dominant in Evo. With the addition of Jack O, it will be interesting to see if fans can oust the top characters.

Season Pass 1 owners can download Jack-O on August 27, but everyone else will have to wait until August 30 to get their hands on this minion-wielding badass.

SNK's immensely popular and punishingly unforgiving "Samurai Showdown" has featured several guest characters in the past, but none have matched the star power of Guilty Gear's lovable sociopathic biken.

This classic character has been a staple of the "Guilty Gear" franchise since day one when she debuted as a boss character, and her appearance in "Samurai Showdown" was clearly based on her fan favorite "Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2" appearance.

Given that Bauken herself is a samurai, she fits perfectly into the "Sword Art Online" roster. While her pink hair is most definitely not appropriate for a samurai, her colorful bangs should complement Ukyo Tachibana's blue hair.

Of course, we don't know the full extent of her kit, but Biken's announcement trailer generously demonstrates some of her most iconic moves, including her claw, cannon attack, and powerful air slash ability.

Biken joins the Samurai Showdown this Thursday, August 19.

After a long wait for new characters, Capcom added two new fighters in a major patch yesterday. Oro and Akira are available now with the Season 5 Pass. Owners of the Season 5 Premium Pass will also receive additional premium costumes for both characters that are not included in the standard version.

This release marks Oro's first appearance in over 20 years. His last appearance was in Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, arguably one of the best in the series. While cool new moves have certainly been added, such as the aerial flying kick, players will be pleased to see that most of Oro's attacks remain the same as they were in the past.

Akira, on the other hand, is a crossover character from Capcom's other fighting series, Rival Academy. Thankfully for fans of the game, the developers have taken great care to make Akira feel like a Street Fighter character without sacrificing the unique Rival School play style. Her timing and patterns remain as close to the original as possible, but for new and returning users of this underrated fighter, there will be plenty of new things to learn.

I didn't get a chance to play her in Rival Schools, but am excited to get deep into her kit.

No one would argue that the character faces in Street Fighter 5 are not particularly attractive, but female fighter Sakura is notorious for having some aesthetic challenges in the collection. Her story costumes, in particular, have disappointed many fans.

However, the look of Sakura's character selection screen seems to have received a silent update with yesterday's balance patch. The aforementioned story costume has given her a more natural appearance. Gone are the giant eyes and awkward smile. Instead, Sakura's face has been replaced with a design that more closely resembles the version of the character players have grown accustomed to.

Capcom, this time it's Ken.