Street Fighter 6 producer Shuhei Matsumoto has revealed the precarious state of Capcom's iconic fighting game series during the lifespan of Street Fighter V, detailing how he and director Takayuki Nakayama worked to prevent the franchise from fading into obscurity. Matsumoto stated that he and Nakayama recognized the peril the series was in, believing the Street Fighter intellectual property could cease to exist within a decade if significant action wasn't taken.
Street Fighter V, which launched in February 2016, faced criticism for being incomplete at release, lacking features like an arcade or story mode and suffering from unstable netplay. Matsumoto, who took over as producer for Street Fighter V after Yoshinori Ono's departure from Capcom in 2020, expressed that the franchise was critical. During an October 2026 interview, he explained the team's concern: "When the two of us were talking during Street Fighter V, we realized that if we didn't do something about Street Fighter, the Street Fighter IP would probably die in 10 years. It was critical. So, we had to make it a game where people would get to know it all over again and play it again.”
Matsumoto highlighted the aging player base of Street Fighter V as a key issue. "At that time, the player base for Street Fighter V was roughly 35 to 45 years old. In 10 years, these people will be 60. It’s difficult to sustain the franchise if we only rely on that group,” he stated. He further elaborated on the franchise's distant presence, noting that while people were aware of the fighting game scene, actual engagement with the game was low, which was considered a fatal problem for a game company. The team recognized the potential for passion to wane and the natural lifespan of player engagement.
To address this, the development team for Street Fighter 6 adopted a "blank slate" approach, disregarding the historical weight of the IP and assuming the current generation of gamers was unfamiliar with it. "While people say Street Fighter has high name recognition, we shouldn't be overconfident. We decided to act as if the current generation doesn't know us. We have to properly explain things to those who are just starting to play games now — like who these characters are and how to play — so we don't take that familiarity for granted,” Matsumoto explained.
The inclusion of the Modern control scheme was central to attracting a new audience, complemented by accessible features such as the World Tour Mode, the Battle Hub, and real-time commentary from community figures. This strategy has proven successful, with Street Fighter 6 becoming one of Capcom's most successful titles, selling over seven million units by summer 2026 and maintaining a large player base across PC and consoles. Capcom has also seen success with other recent releases like Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and is anticipating the release of a new Street Fighter movie in October 2026.