After the “Capcom Countdown” ended on February 21st (PST), the next entry in the Street Fighter series, Street Fighter 6, was announced. Unlike many other game announcements, the logo reveal was not followed with platform reveals. Still, there are already a lot of reasons why it may or may not come to some platforms.
Windows
It is essentially guaranteed that Street Fighter 6 will release on PC. Even though Sony helped fund Street Fighter 5, it still released on Windows the same day as it released on PlayStation 4. Even if the opposite scenario happens, where Microsoft is somehow involved, all Microsoft published games on Xbox also release on Windows.
PlayStation 5
It is also extremely likely that Street Fighter 6 will be available on PlayStation 5. Almost every Street Fighter game has released on PlayStation systems since the first PlayStation came out, and the last Street Fighter game was a console exclusive for PlayStation 4. Even if Microsoft made the unlikely move of acquiring Capcom, they have shown in the past that they will honor existing contracts with other companies that create consoles, and it would not be surprising to hear that Capcom has already discussed releasing this game on PlayStation with Sony.
Xbox Series X/S
Also quite likely, but not as much as the other two so far. It is generally agreed upon that the reason that Capcom decided to work with Sony on Street Fighter V is their relatively poor performance as a company in the years leading up to its release. Nowadays Capcom is doing much better than they were back then, so they have much less reason to feel a need to work with Sony.
While it has not been confirmed yet, the game looks like other games that run on the RE Engine, so it would not be surprising to hear Capcom announce that the game runs on that engine. This will probably make the game easier to make for Capcom compared to Street Fighter V, which ran on Unreal Engine 4, further suggesting that Capcom probably doesn’t need any help.
Just because Capcom doesn’t need the help doesn’t mean they won’t sign any deals, though. Final Fantasy XVI has been announced as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, and Square Enix didn’t necessarily need Sony’s help to make that game. We haven’t seen anything like that from Capcom lately, except perhaps with Monster Hunter Rise, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Anything is possible, including a timed deal, in which case the game will still release on Xbox Series X/S eventually.
PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Definitely possible, but not likely. Street Fighter games often stay on one generation while they are still the most recent entry in the series. Based on the trailer it seems like Capcom may be focusing more on graphical fidelity for this entry, which doesn’t help the chances of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One getting this game. At the same time, depending on when this game releases, the current generation consoles may have not sold as many units as Capcom would like to be able to sell a lot of copies of Street Fighter 6. Releasing on older consoles as well could help with this. At the same time, Capcom didn’t seem particularly concerned with this when they released Street Fighter V, so it’s hard to imagine they will act differently this time.
Xbox One is no different than Xbox Series X/S as far as possible deals with Sony go.
Nintendo Switch
Also unlikely. The first condition of this happening is the game also releasing on Xbox Series X/S, since that would be a much easier port and it would mean there is no exclusivity deal with Sony. If that does not happen, there is basically zero chance of this port happening. The game releasing on last generations systems would also help the odds of a Nintendo Switch port, since that would mean that the game has been designed to be tuned down for weaker hardware like the Nintendo Switch. Many Nintendo Switch ports don’t happen right away, so even if it is not announced when other platforms are announced, any Xbox platform getting the game means there is at least some chance for the Nintendo Switch to get it as well.
Although the Nintendo Switch does have a version of the RE Engine, it has yet to see a game using this engine with anywhere near the level of graphical fidelity shown in the trailer for Street Fighter 6. The graphics shown in the reveal trailer look closer to that of the recent Resident Evil games, none of which have had native releases on the Nintendo Switch. Biohazard 7: Resident Evil Cloud Version came out on Nintendo Switch, but it is hard to imagine a similar release for a fighting game where inputs needs to be extremely precise.
Overall
Windows and PlayStation 5 users probably don’t have anything to worry about. Xbox Series X/S users have a little more to worry about, but not much. They may have to wait for a timed exclusivity deal to end. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One users don’t have much hope, but it is hard to say for sure right now. Nintendo Switch users have even less hope, but not none, at least.
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