In the decades since its release in 1987, theStreet Fighterseries has come a long way andStreet Fighter 6will be joining the series as the latest sequel. The latest Capcom game is set to release in June 2023 and is the firstStreet Fightergame sinceStreet Fighter 5came out in early 2016.Street Fighter 6is already causing a stir with announcements of new characters, altered fighter appearances, and a few entirely new mechanics.
Capcom is seemingly approachingStreet Fighter 6with a focus on all things new. Not only willStreet Fighter 6feature seven new playable fightersin the base roster, but Capcom has also announced an interesting new aspect: Real-Time Commentary mode.Street Fighter 6is set to feature the voices and likenesses of real professional gamers, commentators, musicians, actors, and athletes that will provide commentary over the in-game fights. The English and Japanese versions ofStreet Fighter 6will have this feature, with four commentators confirmed for each version.
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Street Fighter 6 English Commentators
The identities of the Real-Time Commentary hosts were revealed with YouTube videos posted by Capcom andStreet Fighter. The first English commentator is confirmed to be Steve “TastySteve” Scott, a professional gamer that is known for playing fighting games. TastySteve now works as a commentator for fighting game tournaments, commentating onevents like the Capcom Cup. Additionally, James “jchensor” Chen will commentate on the game. Chen is known forStreet Fightercommentary in both the U.S. and Japan. Chen is also the creator of UltraChenTV, a channel that publishes fighting game news and commentary.
Jeremy “Vicious” Lopez is also a fighting game commentator and focuses almost exclusively on Capcom games likeStreet Fighter, hosting and commentating on AmericanStreet Fightertournaments. The only woman that will commentate on the English version ofStreet Fighter 6is Thea Trinidad, a WWE Superstar better known by her wrestling name Zelina Vega. Trinidad is an American professional wrestler and actress who debuted in 2010 and has won several WWE championships. Trinidad still performs and wrestles, andZelina Vega is featured inWWE 2K22as well as earlierWWE 2Kvideo games.
Street Fighter 6 Japanese Commentators
Capcom’sStreet Fighterseries is popular in both the United States and Japan, andStreet Fighter 6will receive a Japanese release as well as an English one. Similarly to the English version, the Japanese version is set to utilize professional gamers and fighting game commentators. The first of these is Ryutaro “Aru” Noda, a well-known old-schoolStreet Fighterplayer. Beyond being a notableStreet Fighterplayer, Aru has recently branched out to commentating JapaneseStreet Fightertournaments. Another commentator will be Kosuke Hiraiwa, a popular JapaneseApex Legendscaster. While not new to commentating on video games, Hiraiwa is not known for fighting game commentary, and this appearance is seemingly his firstStreet Fightercommentating work.
JapaneseStreet Fighter 6will also feature a few performers that are not known for work in gaming. Demon Kakka is a heavy metal musician and performer who sports a unique look, always appearing in white face paint and with spiked hair. Hikaru Takahashi will also provide commentary. Takahashi is an actress and model known for television and film work but is new to the world of gaming. It’s unclear what the commentary of these two performers will be like, especially in contrast to the other commentators with professional video game hosting experience. Still, it seems likely thatthe team behindStreet Fighter 6hired these two for a reason.
Because the Real-Time Commentary mode is new toStreet Fighter 6, it’s unclear whether the feature will be embraced by fans or not. If successful, Capcom may bring the feature to futureStreet Fightergames alongside other changes being made inStreet Fighter 6like the new ability to customize fighters. Capcom is making many changes to the formula, and player reactions will become evident upon release in June 2023.
Street Fighter 6releases in 2023 on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
