Street Fighter is officially returning with Street Fighter 6. Ryu, Chun-Li, and new and old friends will take center stage, along with a whole new look for the classic fighting game’s graphics. It’s good timing, too, as the Street Fighter franchise just turned 35 last year, and is ready for a big comeback (Street Fighter 5 launched more than six years ago in 2016).
Interested in learning more? Wondering if Street Fighter 6 will be coming to your gaming platform of choice? Capcom’s going to be dropping more info from now up until launch. In the meantime, here’s everything we know and what you can expect.
Release date
Street Fighter 6 is set to release on June 2, 2023.
Platforms
Unlike Street Fighter 5, the new entry in this series will no longer be a console exclusive. Street Fighter 6 will launch on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC simultaneously, which is great news for Xbox players in particular who missed out on the last entry.
Trailers
Following a brief countdown in February 2022, Capcom released a teaser trailer officially announcing the upcoming Street Fighter 6 that featured a pose-off between Ryu and Luke, presumably before a battle. For longtime fans of the series, the trailer was particularly interesting for a few reasons, notably:
- New character Luke gets a lot of screen time in the teaser. That may be confusing since he was only added in one of the last updates made to Street Fighter 5 in late 2021. However, the DLCs have given Luke a lot of attention and were clearly setting him up to be a part of Street Fighter’s future, possibly with a major storyline moving forward. That seems even more likely now, but don’t worry — Ken and the gang will all still be there at launch.
- It’s unclear if the graphics used in the trailer reflect the graphics that will be in gameplay (there seemed to be slightly too much detail, but it’s possible). Either way, it indicates a shift. The models are more realistic, Ryu looks older (and bearded, a look Capcom has tried out before), and the franchise as a whole seems to be moving on from the ink-brush style that defined many previous entries.
The next look at Street Fighter 6 came at Sony’s June 2022 State of Play, where we get a good vibe of the hip-hop/neon/street art style this game will have. It shows off a couple of characters, including returning fan favorites like Chun-Li and Ryu, but the big reveal was the open-world World Tour mode taking place in Metro City. There are a few clips of character intros before a match, and quick cuts of some moves, combos, and specials in combat, but no HUD shown just yet.
The 2022 Summer Game Fest followed up the State of Play with the first individual character reveal trailer for Street Fighter 6 featuring the man whose theme goes with everything, Guile. Sporting a new goatee, we see Guile go up against Luke and Ryu on his iconic airship stage. He shows off his iconic Flash Kick and Sonic Boom moves, plus a bunch of new techniques and a super before closing out the match by fixing up his hair.
The final core characters on the roster were given a trailer, including Zangief, Lily, and Cammy. The latter in particular struck a chord with the internet thanks to her new design and display of flexibility with her stretch. Aside from that, she also has a move taken directly from the Street Fighter II movie from 1994.
Gameplay
The core of Street Fighter 6 should come as no surprise — it’s a fighting game. You will engage in fights, pulling off combos, doing super moves, shooting projectiles, and all the typical things you expect. However, an interesting new feature that can help newcomers is the addition of a second control scheme. Classic controls will work in the traditional six-button layout the series has always used, with button combinations pulling off special moves, but a new modern control scheme simplifies that.
Modern controls don’t require players to memorize or practice complex motions to pull off moves. Instead, special moves are mapped to a single button, and by changing what direction you’re moving or the situation you’re in when you press it, you will pull off a different special move.
The new Dynamic control type allows for auto-attacks to be performed with a single button, but the actual attack used will depend on your character’s position. As detailed in a tweet from the official account, “Unleash combos at close range with one button! At mid-range, the AI could choose a jump Attack! Projectiles and dashes are performed at long range!” A short video shows off these dynamic attacks in action, such as close-range combos leading into supers, jumping over projectiles into attacks at midrange, and shooting off projectiles while at long range.
It is important to note that Dynamic Controls are only available during offline play and certain Fighting Ground modes.
The main new mechanic to Street Fighter 6 is something called the Drive System, which looks a bit like the Focus mechanic from Street Fighter 4, at least visually. Drive is a meter 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 all draw from the same Drive meter, meaning you will need to ration it depending on whether you want to use it for defense or offense.
World Tour
A new form of single-player mode for Street Fighter 6 comes in the form of World Tour mode. Placing your character, which may be customizable, in the streets of Metro City, you are free to run around and explore the environment in an open-world setting. We’ve seen tons of environments to explore, barrels to break, and the ability to start fights with NPCs. What the story is, who you play as, and what kind of progression or purpose the open world serves here all remain a mystery for the time being.
Fighting Ground
This mode is the basic versus area for Street Fighter 6, where you will duke it out against other opponents. In addition to normal matches, there will also be Extreme Battles where players can customize matches with unique rules and gimmicks, such as having bombs randomly spawn during a fight.
Battle Hub
A new social element for Street Fighter 6 is the Battle Hub. This area is where you can meet up, chat, and access the Fighting Ground 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 arcade games, purchase cosmetic items, and participate in tournaments.
Demo
Street Fighter 6 had several smaller closed beta periods in the past, but launched one that is available to all on PlayStation platforms starting April 20, with an Xbox and PC version arriving on April 26. This demo lets players try out the World Tour Mode, a few modes from the Fighting Ground such as One on One, Extreme Battle, some tutorials, and character guides, plus create their own fighter from the Avatar creator that can be imported to the full game. The demo includes eight playable characters:
- Luke
- Jamie
- Kimberly
- Ryu
- Ken
- Chun-Li
- Juri
- Guile
Roster
If you remember, Street Fighter 5 had a lot of ongoing DLC back in the day, with many new and returning characters added. That eventually added up to a total of 46 playable characters, more than any other game in the franchise before. Capcom has indicated that gamers can expect an even larger roster for Street Fighter 6 and that it would again be a mix of old and new characters. This is also likely to happen in an extended rollout, so don’t expect every option on day one.
After numerous small reveals, the official Street Fighter Twitter account confirmed the initial roster of 18 characters as follows:
- Luke
- Jamie
- Manon
- Kimberly
- Marisa
- Lily
- JP
- Juri
- Dee Jay
- Cammy
- Ryu
- E. Honda
- Blanka
- Guile
- Ken
- Chun-Li
- Zangief
- Dhalsim
DLC
Street Fighter 6 already revealed what fighters we can look forward to joining the roster in the first year, many of which were already leaked. Here’s who’s joining the fight between launch and spring 2024 in order:
- Rashid — summer 2023
- A.K.I — autumn 2023
- Ed — winter 2024
- Akuma — spring 2024
Preorder
If you want to reserve your copy of Street Fighter 6, you have four different editions to pick from on the official site. Here’s how they compare.
Standard Edition ($60):
- A copy of the game
- Outfit 1 Color 10 for six characters
- Special Titles and Stickers
Deluxe Edition ($85):
- Everything from the Standard Edition
- Year 1 Character Pass, which includes four characters, four character colors, and 4,200 Drive Tickets
Ultimate Edition ($105):
- Everything from the previous editions
- four more character costumes
- two additional stages
- 7,700 Drive Tickets
Mad Gear Box (Gamestop exclusive with varying prices):
- Mad Gear Box
- Standard Edition of the game
- Pop Up Parade Figures of Luke and Kimberly
- Artbook
- Sticker Set
- Figure Diorama Boards
- Year 1 Ultimate Pass that includes everything added in the Ultimate Edition
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