Street Fighter 6 is a 2023 fighting game made and released by Capcom. It is the seventh main game in the Street Fighter series, following Street Fighter V, which was released in 2016. The game was available worldwide on June 2, 2023, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. An arcade version, called Street Fighter 6 Type Arcade, was released by Taito in December for Japanese arcade machines. An updated version, named Street Fighter 6 Years 1-2 Fighters Edition, was released on June 5, 2025. This version was also released with the Nintendo Switch 2 as a new game and included Amiibo figures for the game.

Built using the RE Engine, Street Fighter 6 allows players to play across different systems and uses rollback netcode for smoother online matches. The game includes three main game modes and three ways to control the characters. It features a real-time commentary system that adds a tournament-like experience and lets players cheer for their favorite fighters. The game keeps the "2.5D" style first used in Street Fighter IV. Street Fighter 6 received praise for its open world, control options, characters, gameplay, graphics, and voice acting. However, the story had some small criticisms. By November 2025, the game had sold more than 6 million copies worldwide.

Gameplay

Street Fighter 6 includes three main game modes: Fighting Ground, World Tour, and Battle Hub. Fighting Ground allows players to compete in local and online matches, practice through training modes, or play arcade-style games. These modes use the same 2D fighting style as earlier games in the series, where two fighters use attacks and special moves to defeat each other. World Tour is a story-driven mode where players control a customizable character. The character explores 3D environments, such as Metro City from Final Fight and a fictional country called Nayshall, using action-adventure gameplay. Battle Hub is an online lobby where players can join ranked or casual matches, use their custom characters from World Tour, participate in events, or play recreated versions of classic Capcom arcade games. A new feature called "Game Face" lets characters display different facial expressions during loading screens.

The fighting system in Street Fighter 6 centers on the Drive Gauge, a tool that helps players make creative choices. The gauge can be used for five different techniques, and players must decide which to use. Many of the Drive Gauge’s rules are similar to those in earlier Street Fighter games, such as blocking attacks (called Parry), Focus Attacks, and EX moves. When a player uses all of their Drive Gauge, their character enters "Burnout" mode. In this state, the gauge slowly refills but cannot be used. While in Burnout, the character’s blocking is weaker, and they may be stunned if cornered.

The game offers three control styles: the "classic" layout, which uses six buttons like earlier games; the "modern" layout, which uses four buttons with special moves assigned to one button and directional inputs; and the "dynamic" layout, which is only available offline and lets the game’s AI choose attacks based on button presses.

Street Fighter 6 returns the use of super combos from the Street Fighter Alpha series and includes the Ultra Combo W from Ultra Street Fighter IV. Each character’s super combos are linked to three levels of a gauge. For example, Ryu’s Shinku Hadoken, Shin Hashogeki, and Shin Shoryuken can only be used at Level 1, 2, and 3, respectively. When a player has low health, their Level 3 super move becomes a Critical Art, which is stronger and has more detailed scenes. Some moves can only be canceled into higher-level super moves based on the gauge’s filled levels. For example, EX/Overdrive special moves can only be canceled into Level 2 or higher, while regular moves can only be canceled into Level 3. Some characters, like Akuma, have a special Level 3 super move that is only available during Critical state. An "extreme" battle type is also available, offering matches with special rules and challenges.

A new feature in Street Fighter 6 is the real-time commentary system. English and Japanese commentators watch matches live, adding a tournament-like atmosphere or allowing players to cheer. There are nine commentators: four play-by-play commentators (Ryutaro "Aru" Noda, Jeremy "Vicious" Lopez, Steve "TastySteve" Scott, and Kosuke Hiraiwa) and five color commentators (Demon Kakka, Thea "Zelina Vega" Trinidad, James "jchensor" Chen, Hikaru Takahashi, and Amaki Pururu). Players can choose whether to enable color commentary.

Plot

The World Tour tells a story about a martial artist created by the player. This character and Bosch are new fighters trained by Luke in Metro City as they learn what it takes to become stronger. At first, the two students are close friends, but Bosch leaves after training with Luke. The player's character then searches for Bosch worldwide after learning Bosch joined the Mad Gear criminal group. In Nayshall, the player meets JP, a man who wants to win the prize belt from the next fighting tournament. JP hides a bomb inside the belt. During the tournament, the player fights Bosch, who has been taken over by a powerful force called Psycho Power and wants the belt. No matter the result of the final match, Bosch interrupts the ceremony to give the belt to JP. The belt then explodes and hurts Bosch. As people become frightened, the player fights JP. Even after winning, the player feels a victory that seems empty or unfulfilling.

Characters

The game began with a starting group of 18 characters called the World Warriors. Extra characters became available for purchase through the game's season passes.

Many characters from earlier games in the series are included in this game. These characters are Blanka, Cammy, Chun-Li, Dee Jay, Dhalsim, E. Honda, Guile, Juri, Ken, Luke, Ryu, and Zangief. The first season pass added Rashid, Ed, and Akuma. The second season pass introduced M. Bison and Elena. The third season pass added Alex, C. Viper, Sagat, and Ingrid. Two characters from SNK's Fatal Fury series, Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui, were also added through the second season pass.

Several new characters were introduced to the series:

• A.K.I. is a white-haired female apprentice of F.A.N.G. She specializes in poison and snake-style kung fu. Before her debut in the first season pass, she appeared as a cameo character in the Street Fighter V side reader chapter "Toxicity."
• Jamie Siu is a Hong Kong Chinese martial artist who practices drunken kung fu and break dancing. He has been a rival of Luke since childhood and admires the Lee brothers, Yun and Yang.
• JP is the main antagonist of the game. A Bartitsu fighter, he secretly leads a terrorist group called Amnesia. He was once part of M. Bison's Shadaloo organization and can use Psycho Power, similar to Bison. He is responsible for many events in the game.
• Kimberly Jackson is an African American female ninja and student of the series character Guy.
• Lily Hawk is the youngest member of the Thunderfoot tribe. She uses two ball-headed war clubs called "Pogamoggans."
• Manon Legrand is a French ballerina and judoka champion. She participates in fighting tournaments to achieve true beauty through self-improvement.
• Marisa Rosetti is a large, muscular Italian jewelry designer and an MMA-pankratiast of Greek descent. Her red hair looks like a gladiator helmet. She is bisexual and wants to marry someone of equal strength.

Development and release

Capcom placed a "Capcom Countdown" timer online on February 14, 2022. The timer counted down for seven days, and an announcement was planned once it finished. On February 21, 2022, Street Fighter 6 was officially announced. The game hinted that characters Ryu and Luke would return. Luke first appeared in Street Fighter V's final downloadable content season.

Street Fighter 6 is the first game in the series since Street Fighter III without the help of former producer Yoshinori Ono, who left Capcom in 2020. It is also the first Street Fighter game since Street Fighter IV to appear on an Xbox console, as Street Fighter V was exclusive to PlayStation 4. Unlike previous games, Street Fighter 6 was fully developed by Capcom. Earlier games, including Street Fighter IV, Street Fighter X Tekken, and Street Fighter V, were developed together with Dimps.

On June 2, 2022, a gameplay trailer was shown during PlayStation’s June State of Play event. The trailer introduced new game modes, including World Tour, Battle Hub, and Fighting Grounds. It also showed the return of Chun-Li and introduced two new characters, Jamie and Kimberly. The game was released on June 2, 2023, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. It included in-game commentary for the first time. The game was made using Capcom’s RE Engine and supports cross-platform play and rollback netcode. The official release date was announced at The Game Awards 2022.

The first closed beta test took place from October 7 to October 11, 2022. Players could try eight characters and play across Xbox, Steam, and PlayStation. A second closed beta occurred between December 16 and December 19, 2022. Access to the beta was chosen randomly through a lottery. A demo version featuring part of the World Tour mode and playable characters Ryu and Luke was released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on April 20, 2023, with other platforms getting it on April 26.

An arcade version of the game was announced on December 9, 2022. Published by Taito for NESiCAxLive-compatible cabinets, it was released in Japan on December 14, 2023, under the title Street Fighter 6 Type Arcade. This version only includes the "Fighting Ground" mode. The game’s first battle pass was delayed due to network issues. On November 21, 2023, it was announced that all 18 launch characters would receive a third outfit. These outfits were released on December 1, 2023.

On April 2, 2025, it was announced that Street Fighter 6 would be one of the launch games for the Nintendo Switch 2, set for release on June 5, 2025. A special version of the game, called Street Fighter 6 Years 1-2 Fighters Edition, was released. This version includes the base game, downloadable characters from Season 1 and 2, and three exclusive Amiibo figures based on Luke, Jamie, and Kimberly. It also works with Amiibo figures from Super Smash Bros. featuring Ryu, Ken, and Terry.

In August 2023, a limited-time collaboration with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was announced for release later that month. This added character costumes and other decorations to the game. A collaboration with the Spy × Family manga and anime series was announced in July 2023 to promote the film Spy × Family Code: White. A special animation of Chun-Li battling Yor Forger was released in December 2023. Decorations based on Spy × Family were available for purchase in January 2024. In August 2024, avatar decorations were added for a collaboration with the manga series Baki the Grappler.

As part of the game’s second season of downloadable content, characters Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui from SNK’s Fatal Fury series were added as playable characters. In return, it was confirmed at the 2024 Tokyo Game Show that Ken and Chun-Li would appear in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves as part of its first season of downloadable content in 2025. Capcom also released collaborations with its own series, including Monster Hunter, Ace Attorney, and Rival Schools, in early 2025. A collaboration with the South Korean girl group Aespa was released on July 4, 2025, featuring a themed Battle Hub, Juri’s Outfit 4, and an announcer pack with Naevis. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Spike Chunsoft’s Banshee’s Last Cry visual novel, a special event was held in October 2025, adding avatar outfits and a substory based on the game’s events in World Tour.

Two prequel comic books were released for Street Fighter 6:
– Days of Eclipse, a comic series by Udon Entertainment, was announced on November 9, 2022. It explains the stories of Ken, Chun-Li, Kimberly, and Luke. The comic was released digitally on May 5, 2023, and in bookstores on May 6, 2023.
– Luke Rising, a manga series, was announced and released in Weekly CoroCoro Comic on June 20, 2025. It takes place before Days of Eclipse and follows Luke’s journey with companions Lily and Blanka-chan. It also includes stories about other playable characters, such as Ed, which happened before Days of Eclipse.

The main theme song for the game is titled "Not on the Sidelines," produced by GRP and rappers Rocco 808 and Randy Marx. The official music video features artists Sumi Oshima and Benny Diar and was directed by Ross Harris. Lead composer Yoshiya Terayama said the soundtrack was inspired by hip-hop culture and aimed to represent "a new generation for the series." Character theme songs are based on new compositions, imagining what the characters would sound like on the streets. Additional music from guest artists, including Yoko Shimomura and JAM

Reception

Street Fighter 6 received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to Metacritic, a website that collects reviews. OpenCritic reported that 98% of critics recommended the game.

The Guardian praised the game's online features, saying, "the online component actually works, and works well, right out of the gate." PCMag highlighted the character creator, noting it offered many choices: "there are a large number of options for body, eye, hair, nose, and voice to create a fun, imaginative, or realistic martial artist." Game Informer wrote that the Drive System was a strong addition, saying it created "an interesting balance between risk and reward in every interaction."

PCGamesN said the World Tour mode's storytelling was disappointing but noted that Capcom improved from past mistakes, making the most "feature-packed fighting game yet." The website also mentioned that the game's large amount of content satisfied players without needing an Ultimate Edition. Ars Technica praised the game's accessibility options, explaining, "Blind and sight-impaired players will find many new features to help them play, such as sounds that show distance to an opponent or whether an attack hit high, mid, or low. This is a thoughtful addition, and I don’t know of any other game doing something similar."

Street Fighter 6 sold over 1 million units within five days of its release. By June 2025, sales reached more than 5 million units. As of November 2025, the game had sold 6 million units.

In Japan, the PlayStation 5 version of Street Fighter 6 was the third best-selling physical game during its first week, with 21,192 retail units sold nationwide. The PlayStation 4 version was the fourth best-selling physical game in Japan during the same week, selling 12,078 retail units. It was the 17th best-selling video game in the United States in 2023.