CAPCOM hacked, Street Fighter VI information leaked

Street Fighter has been CAPCOM’s flagship fighting game series since the days of the arcade, and new information regarding its latest incarnation has been revealed as a result of a recent hack.

According to the EventHubs podcast, Street Fighter VI is likely scheduled for a release in early 2022, with an announcement coming in just a few months. According to their analysis of the leaks, Street Fighter 6 has allegedly had a rocky development process.

Confirmed: Street Fighter 6 is in developement, and is coming to #Xbox https://t.co/l3V8zGvfXi pic.twitter.com/EhDqPxoKAx

— Xbox News (@_XboxNews) November 18, 2020

How Street Fighter led the fighting game renaissance and why the series matters

The reason Street Fighter is so important is that the series has been responsible for two major periods in fighting game history. Street Fighter II, back in 1991, effectively established fighting games as a genre, leading to the rise of the fighting game community and competitive spirit that is so integral to it.

Fighting games struggled to navigate the move away from arcades and entered a down period for years. That was only until 2008, as with the release of Street Fighter IV, the game almost single-handedly revived fighting games as a genre.

The current vivid landscape of fighting games arguably owes its success and commercial viability to Street Fighter IV.

Unfortunately, Street Fighter IV was released 12 years ago, and while fighting games are in a very healthy spot currently, Street Fighter V has been criticized for its poor design. This has led to many players moving on to other fighting games.

Reportedly, Street Fighter VI’s internal design has struggled along similar lines, with the series director, Yoshinori Ono, being demoted as a result.

What does this mean for Street Fighter VI?

Capcom schedule leaked.STREET FIGHTER 6 (Q3 FY22)Dragon's Dogma 2 (Q2 FY22)RESIDENT EVIL 4 REMAKE (Q4 FY22)Resident Evil Hank (Q4 FY24)RESIDENT EVIL OUTBREAK (Q4 FY21) Monster Hunter 6 (Q2 FY23)BIOHAZARD APOCALYPSE (Q3 FY23)MH NS G (QY F22) SHIELD (Q3 FY21) pic.twitter.com/JOb1GbY8WL

— Gaming Leaks & Rumors (@GameLeaksRumors) November 19, 2020

Despite the leaks, there is very little in the way of a comprehensive picture of what Street Fighter VI will be, though we can infer some of what it won’t be. The game is still early enough in development that CAPCOM is still effectively building Street Fighter VI.

However, part of the reason development seems to have stalled is that the previous director of the game had been pursuing a team based mechanic for Street Fighter VI. This ended up being negatively reviewed both internally and by playtesters. The extra year of development is meant to retool the game and deemphasize the role of teams as well.

If CAPCOM decides to preserve the mechanic, then Street Fighter VI may ship with an optional team game mode, if only to make sure the work put into it doesn’t end up going to waste. However, it is likely that the role of teams will be significantly reduced in the core game, if not removed entirely.

The official announcement for Street Fighter VI is expected in a few months. At that time, CAPCOM will likely share more information about what exactly the game will have.