Street Fighter is officially back with Street Fighter 6, with Ryu, Chun-Li and friends new and old taking center stage, along with an all-new look to the classic fighting game graphics. It’s good timing too, with the Street Fighter franchise turning 35 this year and ready for a big comeback (Street Fighter 5 launched over six years ago in 2016).
Interested in learning more? Wondering if Street Fighter 6 will come to your gaming platform of choice? Capcom will drop more information from now on until launch. In the meantime, here’s everything we know and what you can expect.
release day
While Street Fighter 6 doesn’t have an exact date yet, Capcom has given us an idea of when to expect. During Sony’s June 2022 State of Play, the developer announced via a new trailer that Street Fighter 6 will be coming summer 2023.
platforms
Unlike Street Fighter 5, the new entry in this series will no longer be exclusive. Street Fighter 6 will launch on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC simultaneously, which is great news for Xbox gamers in particular who missed out on the latest entry.
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After a short countdown in February 2022, Capcom released a trailer to officially announce the upcoming Street Fighter 6, which features a standoff between Ryu and Luke, likely before the fight. For longtime fans of the series, the trailer was particularly interesting for several reasons, most notably:
New character Luke gets a lot of screen time in the teaser. This can be confusing because it was only added in one of the last updates that were made to Street Fighter 5 in late 2021. However, it did give the DLC a lot of attention and it was clear that it was set to be a part of the future of Street Fighter, perhaps going forward. In a main story. This seems more likely now, but don’t worry – Kane and the gang will still be around at launch.
It’s not clear if the graphics used in the trailer reflect the graphics that will be in the gameplay (there seems to be a bit more detail, but it’s possible), but either way, it indicates a shift. The models are more realistic, Ryu looks older (and bearded, a look Capcom has tried before), and the franchise as a whole seems to be moving from the ink brush style that defined many of its previous entries.
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The next look at Street Fighter 6 at Sony’s June 2022 State of Play is where we get a good sense of the hip-hop, neon, and street art style this game will have. It shows some characters, including returning fan-favorites like Chun-Li and Ryu, but the big reveal was an open-world tour mode taking place in Metro City. There are a few clips of character introductions before the match, and quick clips of some of the moves, combos, and specials in combat, but the HUD hasn’t been shown yet.
The 2022 Summer Games followed State of Play with the first reveal trailer for Street Fighter 6’s individual character, the man whose theme goes with everything, Guile. Sporting a new little beard, we see Guile facing Luke and Ryu at the famous Airship Theatre. He shows off his iconic Flash Kick and Sonic Boom moves, as well as a host of new techniques, and Super before ending the match by fixing his hair.
Play
The essence of Street Fighter 6 should come as no surprise – it’s a fighting game. You’ll engage in battles, pull combos, do super moves, shoot projectiles, and all the typical things you’d expect. However, an interesting new feature that can help newcomers is the addition of a second control system. The classic controls will work in the traditional six-button layout the series has always used, with button groups pulling special moves, but the new modern control system simplifies that.
Modern controls do not require players to memorize or practice complex moves to pull off the moves. Instead, special moves are set to a single button, and by changing the direction you’re moving or the position you’re in when you press it, you’ll make a different special move.
The main new mechanic for Street Fighter 6 is something called the drive system, which is somewhat similar to the focus mechanic from Street Fighter 4, at least visually. Drive is a counter that you can use to do one of five things: Drive Impact, Drive Parry, Overdrive, Drive Rush, or Drive Reversal. These all have different inputs but they are all derived from the same command scale, which means you’ll need to ration them depending on whether you want to use them for defense or attack.
a trip around the world
A new form of Street Fighter 6’s single-player mode comes in the form of the World Tour mode. When you place your character, which can be customizable, on the streets of Metro City, you are free to run and explore the environment in the open world environment. We’ve seen plenty of environments to explore, barrels to break, and the ability to start battles with NPCs. What the story is, who you’re playing with, and what kind of progression or purpose the open world serves here, it all remains a mystery for now.
battle field
This mode is the base area versus Street Fighter 6, in which you will play against other opponents. In addition to the regular matches, there will also be Extreme Battles where players can customize matches with unique rules and tricks, such as randomly deploying bombs during combat.
Battle Center
A new social element for Street Fighter 6 is the Battle Hub. This area is where you can meet, chat and access the battlefield in a digital environment using the same avatar you created for World Tour mode. In addition to socializing and starting matches with others, you can also play some classic Capcom games, buy cosmetics, and participate in tournaments.
existing
If you remember, Street Fighter 5 has a lot of DLC going on in the day, with many new and returning characters being added. That eventually added up to a total of 46 playable characters, more than any other game in the franchise before. Capcom indicated that players can expect a larger roster for Street Fighter 6 and that it will once again be a mix of old and new characters. This is also likely to happen in an extended roll, so don’t expect every option on day one.
After several small discoveries, the official Street Fighter Twitter account confirmed the initial 18-character roster as follows:
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Jimmy
Manon
Kimberly
Marisa
Lily
JP
gory
DJ
kami
Rio
E Honda
Blanca
cunning
ken
Chun Li
Zangif
Dear
However, hours after the first trailer was released, a leaked list of what appears to be the full roster of Street Fighter 6 was dropped online. Technically, we can’t say this list is 100% legit until Capcom announces anything itself; However, Capcom responded to it with a tweet via the official Street Fighter account which is basically a wink and a nod to its legitimacy, as well as Guile’s leak and then confirmation. Excluding the 18 confirmed launch characters, this leaves the following to be added later:
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so
Akuma
Marisa
Meme
a
Pre-order
Since only the summer window of 2023 anticipates Street Fighter 6, there are no pre-orders available just yet. It won’t be until a confirmed date is announced that they’ll likely start showing up, but when that happens we’ll keep you updated.