With a big flourish, Capcom has confirmed that a closed beta for Street Fighter 6 will be coming next month, running from 7th – 10th October 2022 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Head here to sign up for the Street Fighter 6 closed beta.
The Street Fighter 6 closed beta will be fairly fully featured, with a training mode, ranked and casual matches, tournaments, Battle Hub matches, Extreme Battle and Game Center. It will show off a lot of what was revealed in the below trailer.
Eight characters will be playable, including Ryu, Chun-Li, Luke, Jamie, Guile, Kimberly, Juri, and Ken – the trailer also confirmed Ken, Blanka, Dhalsim and E. Honda, revealing their new looks and changes to their playstyles.
There’s no release date confirmed for Street Fighter 6, but holding a closed beta test and featuring so many twists on online battling this year could indicate that Capcom are aiming for a release fairly early in 2023.
The main thing you won’t get to check out is the World Tour mode, which allows players to create a custom fighter and go around Metro City. The visual customisation on offer will be pretty extensive, and you’ve then got Gear to wear across your body.
Heading online you’ll visit Battle Hub, a location that can host up to 100 players at a time. There’s arcade cabinets here that allow you to hop into Battle Hub matches with other players there and then (and for others to spectate), while other Game Center cabinets will let you play classics like Street Fighter II and Final Fight, competing for high scores.
Extreme Battle, meanwhile? Well, these are fights with quirky rules and gimmicks. It could be first to five knockdowns, stampeding bulls, a Met from Mega Man, and more.
Street Fighter 6 is set to be released in 2023 for PS5, PS4, PC, and Xbox Series X|S. The latest game in Capcom’s long running fighting series has also freshened things up by adding a hub to run around in, though the full details on what players can expect in the hub are unknown. Though it could be an area when you customise your fighters and find other elements to enhance the game experience.
In our preview for the game, Miguel wrote, “Street Fighter 6 delivers an addictive blend of the best parts of prior entries. […] It’s fresh, it’s different, and bewilderingly so. A franchise afraid to change it’s socks for the last decade has gone and swapped out the whole dang wardrobe, but even wilder than the big change itself is how absolutely perfect it is.”