Pakistan gamer Arslan “Ash” Siddique bagged his sixth Evolution Championship Series (EVO) title after winning the EVO 2025 fighting game tournament in Las Vegas on Monday.
The Lahore-based player won the Tekken 7 tournament in Japan in 2019 as well as the Evolution Championship Series in the US. In August 2022, he finished third in the EVO 2022 Tekken 7 competition. He won the Tekken 7 competition at EVO Japan 2023 in April 2023 and gained his 5th EVO title in July 2024.
EVO 2025 was held at the Las Vegas Convention Centre from Aug 1-3.
Siddique repeated history to win his 6th EVO title against fellow Pakistani and a former member of the team founded by Ash himself, Atif Butt.
EVO posted the winning moment on X with Ash using Nina Williams and Butt using Anna Williams, characters from the Tekken fighting game franchise who are sisters, terming it “greatness on another level”.
“I’m feeling so blessed,” EVO quoted Ash as saying after his win and becoming a six-time title holder, adding that he remains “grateful in victory”.
“Our player Arslan achieves the Evo World Championship for the sixth time in his career. The right path to achieving the World Cup, God willing,” said his e-sports club, Saudi Arabia’s Twisted Minds, further calling Ash by his moniker as the greatest of all time (GOAT) in the competitive Tekken scene.
“Six-time EVO champion. Undisputed GOAT of Tekken.”
Ash himself said in a post on Instagram: “Six EVO titles. What started as a kid grinding in gaming arcades became something I never imagined. Thank you to everyone who believed in me. This is for Pakistan.”
“I’m still not able to get over the thought of how I ended up in second place again. Just like last year’s Evo final, runner-up once again. Anyway, I sincerely want to thank everyone for their support,” said runner-up Butt.
Yuta “Chikurin” Take rounded out the top three in third position.
According to the website for the tournament, EVO is the world’s biggest fighting game tournament with a long history where fighting game players from around the world gather in Las Vegas to compete against each other.