Over the past two years, gamescom asia has rapidly grown into a hub for Street Fighter 6 fans across the region. From the CAPCOM Pro Tour 2024 SUPER PREMIER SINGAPORE returning for its second year in a row, to guest appearances from Street Fighter 6 director Takayuki Nakayama and producer Shuhei Matsumoto, fans of the popular fighting game were in for a treat that weekend!
Thanks to CAPCOM Singapore, we had the pleasure of catching up with Nakayama-san and Matsumoto-san one year after the release of Street Fighter 6. The two gave us a peek behind the curtain with regards to certain game design decisions, their thoughts on crossover characters, and more!
Disclaimer: The following interview has been edited for clarity and ease of reading.
It’s been over a year since Street Fighter 6 was released. Has player reactions matched your expectations?
We’re very thankful for how well the game has been received. We put a lot of effort into making this the best Street Fighter yet. One thing that surprised us was how popular the game became in Japan and Asia, which wasn’t as strong in previous iterations. We’re very happy about that.
What were the biggest challenges in innovating with Street Fighter 6 while staying true to the legacy of the Street Fighter series?
Maybe it wouldn’t be called a challenge or something very difficult, but one thing we focused on while making the newest iteration of Street Fighter is — compared to the past series, which was very much a game focused on fighting — we wanted to focus not only on fighting, but also the characters.
This time, we wanted to make a game where you could enjoy the actual game experience, and not just the fighting portions. We focused on bolstering the characters’ experiences and stories to ensure players have a great experience, even when they’re not solely fighting.
When deciding on returning characters, do you prioritize gameplay synergy, or do you focus more on a character’s popularity and story?
When comparing gameplay mechanics and character popularity, we tend to prioritize the character’s story and timeline relevance. Game mechanics can be finely tuned to fit into the balance of the new iteration, but we first consider whether the character makes sense to return and how much fans love them.
When it comes to crossover characters like King of Fighters, how do you decide which characters to include in the game?
Pertaining to collaboration characters in Street Fighter 6, specifically with characters from the Fatal Fury series like Terry and Mai, there is a lot of history behind this decision. It goes all the way back to the first Street Fighter, which was actually made by the same person who created the Fatal Fury series. Hence, Street Fighter and Fatal Fury have a close history.
Another point is that Capcom and SNK, who created Fatal Fury, are both based in Osaka and the development teams are good friends. This collaboration was really a way to celebrate the shared history and excitement between the two series.
Again with regards to crossover characters, how involved is the Street Fighter team in SNK’s version of Ken and Chun-Li in City of the Wolves?
Chun-Li and Ken were added to City of the Wolves by SNK’s suggestion. We’re pretty involved in their development, having conversations with SNK about how to make sure the characters stay true to Street Fighter, while still fitting into the world of City of the Wolves. It’s a collaborative process, making sure the characters shine in both games.
If you had complete creative control, who would you add next season to the Street Fighter universe?
If we could bring back any character, it would definitely be someone from Street Fighter because we love the series so much. But it’s hard to pick just one, because there are so many characters we’d like to bring back!
How has fan feedback, particularly in the professional e-sports scene, shaped the development of Street Fighter 6?
The esports scene and the game’s development timeline are quite different. By the time feedback from esports comes in, the game is already well-developed, so it’s too late to make major changes. Instead, we monitor social media and general player feedback to catch bugs or areas that could be improved. This helps us polish the game post-launch.
There have been many amateur-level tournaments created by content creators, like the Crazy Raccoon Cup or Sajam Slam. What do you think about non-professional players showing that anyone can have fun with the game at any level?
We think it’s great! We’re happy to see this happening, and we hope it continues to spread. It’s also been interesting to see how pro players have joined content creators to make things like the CR Cup even more fun. It’s really helped bring the fighting game community and content creators closer together, which is awesome.
Lastly, with all the new mechanics and characters in Street Fighter 6, do you foresee adding any more mechanics to further enhance gameplay?
There are already so many new mechanics in the game! Adding more might make things difficult to balance, but who knows? Maybe in the future, it could be possible.
