The recent State of Play was a big one – probably the biggest we’ve ever had – and one of several major upcoming games to get a meaty showing during the showcase was Capcom’s Street Fighter 6. That showing, combined with information that’s emerged on the game from other official sources since then, has given us a solid idea of what to expect from the fighting game, and one thing that’s become clear by now is that Street Fighter 6 is shaping up to be a major step forward for Capcom’s beloved franchise. Here, that’s exactly what we’ll be talking about, as we go through some of the most crucial details you should know about the game.
RE ENGINE
Since the introduction of the RE Engine with Resident Evil 7 in 2017, it has, unsurprisingly, become a company-wide development engine for Capcom, being used in a variety of games. Major titles like multiple Resident Evil games, Devil May Cry 5, Monster Hunter Rise, and the upcoming Pragmata, as well as several minor ones like Capcom Arcade Stadium, Ghosts ‘ Goblins Resurrected, and more have used the engine, and as you may have guessed (and as leaks have claimed since earlier this year), Street Fighter 6 is also being developed on the RE Engine.
WORLD TOUR
This is easily one of the biggest and most intriguing new introductions in Street Fighter 6. World Tour is a brand-new narrative-driven single player story mode- and it’s not the sort of story mode you’d expect to see in Street Fighter, or in any fighting game, for that matter. Set in Metro City, World Tour will let players loose in a fully and freely explorable open world-ish environment. Specifics are currently unknown, with Capcom promising more details on the mode in the “near future”, but we do know you’ll be playing this mode with your own custom created avatar, and “carve out your own legend on the streets” in a mode that Capcom says “defies genre labels.” Colour us intrigued, to say the very least.
BATTLE HUB AND FIGHTING GROUND
Of course, those looking for more traditional fighter offerings won’t have to look too far either. In addition to World Tour, Street Fighter 6 will also come with Fighting Ground and Battle Hub. Fighting Ground is essentially where you’ll find all the traditional modes, with multiple being carried over from Street Fighter 5. This includes Arcade Mode, Training Mode, local versus battles, online matches, and more. Meanwhile, Battle Hub is another new offering, focused on social interactions and building rivalries with other players through online matches. Again, Capcom says more details on Battle Hub will come at a later date, but the company promises that the mode will “bring new and unique forms of engagements and communication.” Your avatar will be central in Battle Hub as well, players will be able to spectate matches between others on big screens, and there will also be an Event Counter, but that’s about the extent of what we know about this new offering for now.
FIGHTERS
The roster of playable characters is what makes or breaks pretty much every fighting game out there, so what can we expect from Street Fighter 6 on that front? Of course, it’s early days right now, and a fuller and clearer picture of this will likely present itself in the months to come as we get closer to the game’s launch, but a handful of characters have already been confirmed for the game so far. Series mainstay Ryu is back, of course, while Luke, who was first introduced not too long ago in Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition, will also be coming back. Both characters were featured in Street Fighter 6’s announcement teaser from earlier this year. Meanwhile, the game’s newest showing also confirmed the return of Chun Li, another series veteran, who is now being voiced by Jennie Kwan, who replaces Laura Bailey as the character’s voice. Finally, there’s Jamie, a newcomer. Let’s take a look at what he brings to the table…
JAMIE
Jamie is a peacekeeper from Chinatown who takes a lot of inspiration from twins Yun and Yang, and promises to be an interesting personality (to say the very least). The official Street Fighter website says he likes dancing and is particularly fond of his grandmother, but isn’t too hot on getting lectured about stuff, and also isn’t big fan of arrogant people (whatever that means). “Jamie places justice and friendship above all else, defending his town with martial skill,” the website adds. Meanwhile, an update on the PlayStation Blog describes his moveset as “unpredictable”. It is apparently based on “drunken boxing” and “incorporates breakdancing and chugging a ki-unleashing drink.”
DRIVE SYSTEM
Street Fighter 6 is making some significant changes to its core combat mechanics as well, and the bulk of that comes in the form of the new Drive System. Revolving around the new Drive Gauge, it will pave the way for different techniques that can be used for offensive and defensive purposes. Managing this meter will be key to all fights. As soon as a round begins, the Drive Gauge becomes available, and will replenish on its own. If your entire Drive Gauge is spent, you’ll enter a Burnout state, which means Drive moves will no longer be usable, forcing you to wait until the meter has been replenished. Different Drive moves will come with different costs.
DRIVE SYSTEM MOVES
Capcom says the new Drive system will drive (heh) more creativity and freedom in how to express yourself during fights, and understanding when to take risks and when to be more conservative will be key to mastering it. And what exactly are these Drive moves that come with this new system? There’s five in total. There’s Drive Impact, which is “a powerful strike that can absorb an opponent’s incoming attack”; there’s Drive Parry, which can “automatically repel an opponent’s attack and replenish Drive when performed successfully”; there’s Overdrive, which is essentially Street Fighter 6’s take on past games’ EX Special Moves; there’s Drive Rush, which will “perform a quick rush forward from a Drive Parry or a cancelable normal attack”; and finally, there’s Drive Reversal, which will “perform a counterattack while blocking an opponent’s attack.”
MODERN AND CLASSIC CONTROLS
With Street Fighter 6, Capcom is also making more of a push than ever before to bring in new players- those who don’t have much (or any) experience with fighting games, essentially. While making itself more accessible, however, it’s also ensuring that it doesn’t lose the core fighting game community, for obvious reasons. And how exactly is it doing that? In a nutshell, with two alternate control schemes. There’s the Classic control scheme, which is the traditional six-button layout that Street Fighter fans will be very familiar with, offering complete control over the character you’re controlling, requiring you to memorize combo inputs, and also offering the ability to freely customize the button layout. Meanwhile, there’s also the new Modern control scheme, which, as Capcom describes it, is “designed for players who want to fight without memorizing and practicing special move button combinations first”, and allows you to perform special moves with simple inputs and combos.
REAL-TIME COMMENTARY
Another new feature being introduced in Street Fighter 6 is real-time commentary, with in-game matches being commentated on by commentators featured on the official Capcom Pro Tour. Commentators will get more and more excited as matches heats up, while they’ll also serve the additional purpose of onboarding for new players as they deliver easy-to-understand explanations of mechanics and features. So far, commentators confirmed for the game are Aru (for Japanese) and Jeremy “Vicious” Lopez (for English). More commentators will be announced later.
LAUNCH
Street Fighter 6 is launching sometime in 2023, though a specific release date hasn’t yet been confirmed. Meanwhile, Capcom has also confirmed that unlike Street Fighter 5, the upcoming new entry won’t be exclusive to PlayStation. That said, for some reason, while Street Fighter 6 will be cross-gen on PlayStation, that won’t be the case on Xbox. In summary, when Street Fighter 6 launches next year, it’ll be available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.