You know, it's hard not to feel sorry for Capcom on this one. Just a few days ago, it unveiled Street Fighter 6 to the world via a fantastic trailer that aired during Sony's State of Play broadcast. The upcoming PS5 and PS4 brawler looks like an absolute knockout, and it's had fans going wild ever since. But within a mere 24 hours of the big reveal, what seemed to be the game's entire launch roster leaked, complete with artwork for each character.
Obviously we're all familiar with video game leaks, but this was on a scale that we rarely see. We didn't report on the leaks because it honestly seemed a bit unfair; modern fighting games spend months drip feeding information and announcing characters one by one — it's a tried and tested blueprint for building hype. But Street Fighter 6's road to release has been completely blown apart by the leaks — everyone already knows which characters are locked in.
Is it cool knowing that your favourite fighters are making a return? Of course, and the general reaction to the leaks has been overwhelmingly positive — mostly because it looks like a rock solid roster, and the new character designs are largely excellent. But it's still a real blow for Capcom going forward.
The developer's taking it pretty well, though. It's published a tweet that outright acknowledges the leaks, which is something that we very rarely see.
What do you make of the Street Fighter 6 leaks? Would you rather have the full character roster leak like this, or would you have enjoyed the reveals more if everyone was an unknown? Score your own KO in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 49
Props to Capcom for acknowledging the leak in a way that's positive and light-hearted. At least they aren't like those scumbags at Take-Two who send private investigators and lawsuits to leakers.
I feel for Capcom, and for people who didn't want to be spoiled but were anyway because it was all over the place. Personally I don't mind that much knowing the full roster in advance, I actively searched for the leak when I heard it was out there.
That being said, I think what's been leaked looks sick as hell. Love the design, the choices, the number of fighters (if this is base roster). I think it's done more good than bad, luckily.
Wow weren't the cutscenes of RE Village also leaked last year?
Lucky to have not seen it but it wouldn't have made me less excited anyway I'm more than ready for SF6
Can’t understand why some people like the slow drip feed of details. Do people really get hyped about this stuff? Surely a basic thing like the roster should just be told to us?
So what? I find the drip feed of characters pretentious, the omission of them at launch cynical and the charge for them as DLC a piss-take.
@riceNpea dude it take time and money to make characters in fighting games. I heard one character in most fighting games take about a year to make.
I've never been into fighters besides MK and Injustice, but this looks fantastic. I'll probably be terrible at it, but will definitely give it a try.
Sorry for Capcom for roster getting leaked, but that’s a very nice starting roster. I like the designs for the returning characters but I still hope we get the classic costumes for them.
Thank you Push Square for not spreading the leak.
I want to wait for Capcom’s official announcements.
The same goes for every other leak. I don’t want to know until it’s official. There is a reason they hold information back.
People just need to be patient.
@4kgk2 if the characters are made after launch fair enough. If they were made during initial development and held back for DLC to charge extra I'm not in favour.
Isn't possible it was a sanctioned leak? Given how ravenous and equally toxic gaming fandom is, maybe this is just a work to generate goodwill. Just as same, how many games are released as shells of there potential, only for developers to droll out updates described as answering the community. Capcom could very well be playing into the tepid response of SF5 by trolling its audience. Absolutely genius
@riceNpea but characters are not being held back to be made as dlc. theses fighting games developers release all the characters that are finished on release and have some characters still in development after release that they release later as dlc theses characters are unfinished.
Not really sold on this art style though but we'll see. SF4&5 we know are cartoony, this however doesn't know if it's going realistic or cartoony. That said, I'll need to install SFV again, been a while.
@thefourfoldroot1 Youtubers like Maximilian Dood gets hundreds of thousands of views for reacting to characters been unveiled so it obviously works.
I'm more hype anout the game with the leak. I'm jazzed they're updating chats yet looks and introducing a lot of new characters.
It's unfortunate for their marketing plan that the roster leaked, but I don't think it woll make people less excited as they roll out individual character trailers. Just because we know what characters look like doesn't mean we know amything about how they will play or look in game.
@RBMango
Um what?
Leaks should be illegal.
@RevGaming illegal? It’s not like leaks cause serious damage. If anything leaks generate more hype. There’s also a simple solution to fighting against leaks: offer employees a bonus for releasing the game without leaks happening. No leaks = devs make more money. Leaks = everyone loses the bonus and internal leakers are more likely to be exposed.
@Shstrick
Tell that to tlou2.
@thefourfoldroot1 my attention span isn't long enough for drip fed hype. After a couple days or maybe a few weeks I'll have forgotten all the previous info and no longer be hyped, especially if the latest info isn't as interesting as the earlier stuff, then I'll probably just stop following the game.
If there is a NDA (non-disclosure agreement), there should be no leaks. All employees are required to sign NDAs upon hiring, and NDAs are a natural part of contracting. Outside of the Service Agreement Confidentiality Clause is a NDA. Standard business practice.
That said...there are deliberate "leaks" that are supposed to generate attention. "That shouldn't be out there, but it is!!!" It's become a marketing routine. The hype of learning what shouldn't be known makes it MORE interesting than the granular reveal. Is that what this is? Who knows. Marketing is marketing. Not my forte.
It's a shame but it certainly hasn't spoiled my excitement for the game. Plus even though the roster leaked we haven't seen any gameplay on most of the cast so the marketing lead-up won't need to change too much since no one has any idea how anyone plays really. The character reveal trailers will still have plenty of value leading up to launch.
First I’ve heard of it but I’llwait for the drip feed as I want to keep on the hype train for this one
@4kgk2 I'll take your word for it. Too many times content ready at launch has been kept back to sell later on. Although I have noticed that in the past games like SF that used to have huge rosters at launch are more stingy in recent titles so as to sell the characters that used to be included.
Very solid roster! I really like the design of the new characters and the overall art direction!
I love that it leaked. Not a fan of drip feeding.
I’ve seen the roster & good on Capcom on having a character from Hong Kong 🇭🇰.
It’ll be interesting if the game gets banned in China or the character just be removed.
let them leak , i don’t like surprises or people telling me i can’t see something yet . once the games announced all it gives is anxiety hoping something will be , so just tell me straight up from the beginning instead . i won’t be any less excited or whatever other dumb reason
@riceNpea
Chars on initial release:
SF2: 8
SFA: 10
SF3:10
SF4: 16
SF5: 16
SF6: 22 rumoured
?
Even though I do feel sorry for Capcom here, I’m glad the whole roster has been shown. I hate waiting to find out whether my favourite fighter is to be included or not. Thankfully they both are!
I think it was great. I don't have to be upset when a loli or lilly gets revealed instead of a world warrior.
I wish more fighters "did" this. Hype is through the roof and now we can anticipate seeing these characters in motion.
@thefourfoldroot1
I'm not into fighting games but enjoyed Mortal Kombat and Street Fight 2 back in the day, so this isn't an issue for me.
I do have a major issue with any form of entertainment media drip feeding information though. It's grown extremely annoying and i hate it. Case in point: Teaser trailers for reveal trailers, or worse yet; teaser trailers for teaser trailers teasing a reveal trailer.
Really?!? 🙄🤦♂️😡
If any industry drip feeds info these days, I just ignore most related info until the product is released and public impressions are out.
I find instances like Bethesda surprise dropping Fallout 4, showing a ton of footage while releasing lots of info and especially a release date that is months away to be refreshing. I feel this is the way media, particularly video games, should handle reveals from here on out.
Drip feeding info ends up making me care less about a games release. Sometimes to the point that I'm sick of it and have lost all interest even playing said game before it ever does release.
I'm probably in the minority though.
🤷♂️
I have no problem with fighting games characters leaks, since it's not story related.
I'm pretty much in the same boat as DrClayman, although I didn't search for the leak when I heard it was out there, but I usually don't mind roster leak for fighting games.
I still feel for Capcom and other companies when it comes to leaks (fighting games or otherwise) though.
As for the base roster (presumably), most of them looks sweet (including Chun-Li, and especially Dee Jay, Rashid and Juri)! Some of the veterans looks alright while all the newcomers looks pretty cool.
I feel for any artist that has their work leaked but do they really have to “spend months drip feeding information and announcing characters one by one”? That is far too slow and tedious
It feels to me that capcom wanted these leaks out there to see lol they said oops but thank you all for your support
I think if Capcom just released the hand-drawn images that were leaked that would be good since the actual characters in-game look completely different. I felt like i NEEDED to know the roster
Nice and all but give me some massive Dragons Dogma 2 leaks please.
I honestly prefer this and wish they'd just shown the roster with the reveal. I don't get the whole drip feed thing. It doesn't build hype it's just a marketing trick to keep the thing in the press. As a gamer I don't benefit from finding out one character at a time for months every other week. I want to just be excited about playing the game
It's especially weird for street fighter. Most of us discovered the series from attraction mode on an arcade cab which ...... Showed all the fighters in like 45 seconds which drew our interest. Knowing the SF roster is the ONLY way to go into SF. Screw the marketing drip feed. My main man is back. I'm happy 😁
@NEStalgia but why not little by little its not like the game is coming out any time soon. so spread out the news before the game comes out , it gives people something to look forward to.
@4kgk2 each character takes a year?
That's some wild over estimation. I wouldn't trust the developers on this either, since Capcom have been ripping people off since the million versions of street fighter 2.
@twitchtvpat I'm surprised people like that. I just see it as nuveau/social marketing nonsense designed to maintain media presence. A big media release in 3 months "omg big news, Ryu is in sf6!!! Get hype!!" Is kind of patronizing and obnoxious. It's just stringing people along a marketing blitz. New mass market gamers will see the game when it releases, and will see the whole roster at once. Long time fans just want to know if their mains are in it and will be hyped from now till launch day. I'm not sure who the drip feed is for. The more interesting hype is presentations of gameplay and what's new/different for characters, and that's not leaked. I'd much rather Capcom present what the total game is, including roster, now, and then maintain hype by showing gameplay, moves, changes in depth over time.
It sounds like you like the drip feed, so you'll disagree, but I just don't get the fg studio obsession with the drip feed. It's a new phenomenon. But trying to generate a media cycle out of the existence of each individual fighter just send like it's stretched so thin.
@RevGaming ah yes, that small game that still garnered perfect scores across the board and sold 4 million copies in the first weekend alone (becoming PS's fastest-selling exclusive) was definitely hurt by the leaks.
Man you gotta stop talking out of your bum-hole, seriously.
@clvr
Would have sold more lol.
Where are the current sales?
Did it really got beaten by Ghost? A new IP, lesser known studio and a worse reviewed game? Can't be.
My bum hole must be squeeky clean then.
@RevGaming "Would have sold more lol."
Oh ok, so you reply to facts with your clairvoyance, fantastic 👍🏻
Something told me that pointing things out to you would be useless, but you're even more stubborn than I thought.
Boy do I hate arguing with people who have no arguments but still think they're right.
@clvr lmao
@RevGaming oh and GoT is the fastest-selling new IP by Sony, selling 2.4 million copies in the first three days.
Get your facts straight.
@clvr
I never said anything bad about ghost...
Lol.
Neither from tlou 2. I just said leaks did affect it.
Are you from the ultimate sony defense force?
@RevGaming no, but you said it beat out TLOU Part 2 in the sales department, and that's factually untrue.
Are you that dense that you don't even know the points you yourself make anymore?
And no, I own a Switch, PS4, Series X and gaming laptop, so I would say no; if anything I'm more of a Nintendo fan, and I don't even like TLOU 1 or 2 in the slightest.
But of course you would think that, cause you're too small-minded to think that someone would argue in terms of facts instead of whatever narrative suits them.
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