Capcom has a history of releasing big fighting games within a certain window. More specifically, they usually target major releases around February, as March 31 marks the end of their fiscal year.
To emphasize this point with notable examples: Street Fighter 4 was released on consoles on February 12, 2009, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was released on February 15, 2011, Street Fighter X Tekken was released on March 6, 2012, and Street Fighter 5 was released on February 16, 2016.
While we know Street Fighter 6 is slated for a 2023 release, Capcom has not further specified when to expect the upcoming title. However, Capcom’s history of releasing major fighting games around February and March suggested we shouldn’t have to wait too long into 2023.
We’ve also previously heard from Capcom itself in their statement to investors (in May this year) that they have plans to release “big new titles” before the end of their fiscal year 2022, which would be March 31, 2023. there were plenty of reasons to believe that Street Fighter 6 could be released in February or March quite early in 2023.
However, Capcom’s latest financial results report now seems to flatly disprove this theory. The report states that “the company will work to achieve full-year guidance through measures such as the release of a major new title in the second half of the fiscal year.”
As of now until March 31, 2023, it appears that Capcom is only planning to release a single major new title. Unfortunately for Street Fighter fans, we already know what this big title is.
Resident Evil 4 Remake has already been announced on March 24, 2023 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. This is indeed an AAA title for Capcom.
In other words, the very first thing Street Fighter 6 could release with this in mind is April 1, 2023. However, it’s more likely that we’ll see a release window even further than that.
One possible new release window for fans to speculate on is September 2023, as this would be halfway through Capcom’s fiscal year 2023. Particularly Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite was released on September 19, 2017.
As of now, the characters fully revealed for Street Fighter 6 are Ryu, Luke, Chun-Li, Jamie, Guile, Juri, Kimberly, Ken, Blanka, E. Honda, and Dhalsim. We have yet to receive gameplay trailers for Manon, Marisa, Lily, JP, Dee Jay, Cammy and Zangief, but Capcom has confirmed the presence of these characters in the game.
It wasn’t too long ago that Capcom hosted a “Closed Beta” build for Street Fighter 6 where selected participants could try the fighting game for the first time. However, they have yet to host a public beta to really test their servers. This is something Capcom is hopefully planning in the future, before Street Fighter 6 is released.
Of course, we’ll have to wait a little longer for official news about Street Fighter 6 from Capcom itself.