Street Fighter 6 is riding high. EVO 2024 approaches, and with it, the biggest prize pools in tournament history. Year One characters have been released, balance changes have been patched, and Capcom oddball Street Fighter III: Third Strike gets a second chance in the EVO spotlight.
This lull in between Akuma’s Street Fighter 6 release and EVO 2024 is the perfect time to assess the game’s overall Year One strategy and guess at what might happen in Year Two. I’ll leave the detailed patch analysis to professional fighter Brian F.
Related: All of the Characters in Street Fighter 6
Street Fighter 6, Served With A Twist
Year One added welcome complications to Street Fighter 6’s gameplay. Each of the four fighters included in the Year 1 Character Pass—Rashid, Ed, A.K.I., and Akuma—had a new twist on established Street Fighter 6 conventions. Only one new character, A.K.I., joined the roster. But she was mostly a second attempt at Street Fighter 5’s F.A.N.G.
Rashid and A.K.I. used their mobility to avoid direct conflict. Rashid’s twisters and midair moves darted across the stage and leapt higher than the rest of the roster. A.K.I.’s feints and slides gave her more opportunities to apply poison damage and stay away from hits that could nullify it. Both made it clear that there were more ways to fight than getting in the opponent’s face and hitting them first.
Ed and Akuma warped traditional move sets with fake-outs and increased range, both designed to make complacent opponents slip up. Their tactics shook up the behavior of hits and projectiles with charged moves or alternate timings. Ed repurposed the trappings of Street Fighter boxers Luke and Dudley, while Akuma directly challenged series mainstays Ryu and Ken.
Version Control
Going forward, I expect Capcom to maintain their schedule of minor incremental updates, followed by quarterly character and balance patches. They have found a groove of releasing smaller adjustments and events in between the larger character announcements. Why fix it if it’s not broken?
And as much as I hate it, Street Fighter 6 will probably revive the naming conventions of old. Don’t be surprised if Super Street Fighter 6 is announced at EVO 2024. I understand Capcom’s reasoning—the staggered versions aren’t for Day One freaks like me.
A new name for your game-and-DLC bundle is going to pop more on a store shelf or digital marketplace. The fighting game community, as always, is a niche within a niche. It’s worth remembering that most people have an SNL sketch’s understanding of the genre.
Future Fights
I predict Year 2 of Street Fighter 6 will follow the established template: four new character releases with their accompanying single player content and Battle Hub events.
The next character pass will have three established characters from the Capcom backlog, with one fan favorite or newcomer to spice things up. I’m a little freak who wants weirdos like Oro and Dan, but Sakura is the clear front-runner to sell copies.
Now that Capcom has bent the rules of engagement, it’d be interesting to see them play around with Super and Drive meter usage a bit more with future characters, or accommodate even more play styles. Guessing at a game company’s schedule in a post-E3 world is a fool’s errand, but we will know more at EVO 2024.
For more Street Fighter 6 news and updates, stay tuned to Press SPACE to Jump!
