Street Fighter 6 announced, and Ryu is a broad and sweaty boy

Six years after the debut of Street Fighter V, Capcom have finally announced Street Fighter 6. It has Ryu, it has Luke, and it has a lot of sweat. And that’s about all we know for now. Check out the announcement trailer below.

That’s a curious art style. Pushing closer to ‘realism’ in terms of fidelity but still with heavily stylised physiques and with the lovely ink splashes for charging up wizard powers. Presumably that’s the look the game will go for, rather than just a decision for this announcement trailer? I’m tentatively game. And it could look quite different in contexts other than a shadowy void. Yeah, I’m curious to see more characters in this style.

Capcom say they’ll talk more about Street Fighter 6 this summer. And that’s it. That’s all they have to say. For no further information, visit the Street Fighter 6 website.

Luke was the final character added to SFV, in November 2021. At the time, Capcom said that “Luke will be a major part of the next Street Fighter project,” which frankly says more than the SF6 announcement.

I do wonder what business model Capcom will go with for this Street Fighter. After yonks of releasing Turbo Editions and Ultra Editions and Turbo Ultra Editions and Turbo Ultra Championship Editions as separate games, with SFV they released only SFV. Balance changes and additions came with updates rather than playerbase-splitting standalones. Technically new characters can be unlocked with a virtuacurrency earned by playing (Fight Money), but it takes a ridiculous grind to unlock even one so the only way practical way is to buy characters for real money. Consider SFV does cost Job Money to buy in the first place, this illusion of choice and freedom makes the whole game feel grubby. I wouldn’t be surprised to see SF6 lean in and go fully free-to-play. That, or maybe take a step back and try to shake off the F2P-esque grime. Maybe we’ll find out come summer?