The announcement of Street Fighter 6 is rumored to be coming next week

Street Fighter 5 Gameplay Image Credit

The announcement of Street Fighter 6 is rumored to be coming next week. With a new countdown timer, Capcom could be teasing an announcement for the sixth mainline entry in the Street Fighter franchise.

Capcom is expected to reveal Street Fighter 6 when the countdown teaser ends on Monday morning, according to reports.

According to GamesBeat journalist Jeff Grubb, who revealed on his paywalled Giant Bomb video show that he'd heard from various sources that The countdown to a new Street Fighter game has begun on Capcom's teaser website, the teaser site is ticking towards a new Street Fighter.

"From what I've heard, everyone should expect Street Fighter 6," Grubb stated.

The announcement will take place on Monday, February 21 at 1 a.m. ET/6 a.m. GMT, according to the Capcom website's timer (or Sunday 10pm PT).

Street Fighter Gameplay Image Credit

While Street Fighter is one of the most successful and long-running fighting game series, it only has a few mainline entries. The most recent installment is Street Fighter 5, which was released in 2016, with the Street Fighter 5 Champion Edition releasing in 2020. Capcom, on the other hand, looks to be foreshadowing a significant announcement in the near future, which could be Street Fighter 6, the series' next flagship entry.

Street Fighter 5 was published on PC and PlayStation 4 in 2016, eight years after Street Fighter 4, and only the second mainline series release since Street Fighter 3 in 1997. The game received mixed reviews at its first release, with both players and critics praising the gameplay but criticizing the seeming lack of content and limited character pool of only 16 characters. Following DLC packs, as well as the launches of the Arcade Edition and Champions Edition, the game was updated to address these issues, with a new gameplay balance and a roster of 46 fighters.

Read More: Capcom is preparing up for a massive reveal, which will coincide with its Street Fighter tournament.

After Capcom set a countdown timer on its official website, rumors of a Street Fighter 6 announcement began to circulate on Twitter. While Capcom has not revealed what the timer is for, games industry reporter Jeff Grubb believes it is likely to precede the fighting game's public announcement. On the most recent edition of his podcast, GrubbSnax, he revealed that a source at Capcom alerted him about the impending Street Fighter 6 reveal, but he didn't provide any details about a release date or platform.

Grubb's comments soon received attention on Twitter, where they were widely reposted by Street Fighter players.

(FYI) According to Jeff Grubb on GrubbSnax expect Street Fighter VI to be announced on Monday https://t.co/WLchhQYeKa

— Idle Sloth (@IdleSloth84) February 17, 2022

While Capcom has given no clue as to what the countdown is leading up to, fans had expected it to be something related to Street Fighter, given that the countdown coincides with the end of the company's Street Fighter Pro Tour Season Final.

Capcom is sponsoring three days of exhibition matches involving the 31 professional Street Fighter V: Champion Edition players till Sunday, February 20.

Street Fighter series celebrates its 35th anniversary this year and Capcom recently confirmed it would celebrate the occasion. "Please look forward to the Street Fighter series' future evolution," it said. 

If the reaction to Grubb's remarks on Twitter is any indication, Street Fighter fans and the rest of the fighting game community are eagerly anticipating the release of Street Fighter 6. Players may interpret these sentiments as a desire for a fresh, full entry in the series to give it a much-needed boost after six years of Street Fighter 5.

However, many players may wonder if Street Fighter 6 will be a console-only title or if it will be released on numerous platforms. The reason for this was Sony's decision to make Street Fighter 5 a PS4 exclusive, with the PC being the only other option for buying the game. Even if the console exclusivity is timed, it's not surprising to see the backlash from the Street Fighter community if Street Fighter 6 is a console exclusive.

Street Fighter V, the most recent installment in the series, was released in 2016 in arcades and on PS4 and PC. In 2017, it was renamed Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, and in 2020, it was renamed Street Fighter V: Champion Edition.

Capcom has continued to update Street Fighter V with five different seasons of content, totaling over 2000 distinct DLC items.

The PC and PlayStation 4 versions of Street Fighter 5 are presently available.

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