It’s difficult to believe that the most notable franchise in the history of fighting games has never had a guest before. God of WarKratos was present Mortal Kombat. Yoda was present The soul of CalibuR Super Smash Bros. Ultimatethere are now more characters from outside the series than from within the lineup. But Deadly Furyconfident, jeans-wearing urban sweater by Terry Bogard (who is also inside Break) will mean that for the first time you will be able to play as someone from another series inside Street Fighter.
The news was announced during the Summer Game Fest show as part Street Fighter VISeason 2 reveal. Apart from the return Street Fighter IIIElena and the series villain M. Bison, in the second year of the game will also be joined by Terry Bogart and the ninja Mai Shiranui, which is the result of a collaboration with SNK that started back during Evo 2022, a fighting game event – a person returning from the covid-19 pandemic. Fighting game illustrators Toshiaki “Shinkiro” Mori and Eisuke Ogura created a “Welcome Back” crossover sign consisting of characters from both Street Fighter AND Deadly Fury.
“It was a big hit and really exciting.” Street Fighter 6 director Takayuki Nakayama and producer Shuhei Matsumoto, who are currently the faces of the franchise, told me in an interview at Summer Game Fest conducted through a translator. Teams from both companies talked over the following years, which ultimately led to the decision to bring Terry, basically Ken from SNK, to the rival franchise. What’s it like to remake an external character in the Street Fighter universe?
Nakayama and Matsumoto demurred when I asked for specifics on what this might mean for their styles and move sets, but emphasized that the band has some ideas that they are excited about. “Deadly Fury this is a long series for SNK. Characters like Terry have also appeared in other games such as King of warriors, which is also a very long series. The team I’m working on Street Fighter All 6 are huge fans of fighting games in general, including ones like Deadly Fury AND King of warriors. They have a lot of things they want to include, people they think Terry and Maya fans will like, and that’s something they’re really putting a lot of energy into.
But before Terry and Mai arrive at the end of the year, players will get their hands on M. Bison, the crime syndicate boss who has been a fan favorite ever since. Street Fighter II. Ryu killed him at the end Street Fighter Vbut as everyone suspected he’s back and I look weirder than ever. His up-to-date gray, tattered alternate costume, a striking contrast to his conventional imperial uniform, earned him the nickname “homeless Bison” from some, and the revamped arsenal of moves looks borderline broken.
“It kind of adds a mental game aspect to his game and kind of forces his opponent to play a certain way when it happens,” they said. Psycho Mine also changes some of M. Bison’s attack effects and combos while lively, also changing the rhythm of the match. He is also a hybrid of charge and command fighter, meaning some of his abilities require holding inputs, while others are just plain sequences. His iconic Double Knee Press attack will now simply be a “fireball move” attack, for example, potentially making him much more appealing to more players.
It’s shaping up to be another chilly addition to a game that still feels like it’s in the honeymoon phase with its fans. After a disappointing launch Street Fighter Vwhich was marked by numerous complaints and incomplete procedures, Street Fighter 6 was back into shape both because of the fundamentals and the positive sentiment among fans. Even though it’s a fighting game rooted in a luxurious history of arcades and personal competition, it’s current Street Fighter is as much a live service platform as anything else. In May, Akuma appeared in the game as part of an event that was part of it Playing on Twitch Pokémon AND part of an MMO boss fight.
When they told me that it’s easier than ever to see what players do and don’t like, I asked them if they ever felt like there was too much data and wished they could go back to the days when developers were more cut off from community opinion and behavior. “Honestly, not really,” they replied, laughing. “It’s really exciting to see everyone really having fun playing the game and seeing what people are interested in.”
One thing that at least some players still don’t always have fun with is Street Fighteraggressive microtransaction model. Outrage erupts from time to time when Capcom asks players to pay for something they think is particularly egregious, such as color variations on costumes. There is also no way to pay exact amounts for most in-game purchases, as players must first purchase any number of Fighter Coins, which often leaves them with remaining premium currency. Is the team satisfied with the current level of monetization?

“I mean, people seem to be very interested in the purchasable content, especially that related to the actual characters in Fighting Ground mode,” they said. “We’re seeing a lot of interest in this, so we’re going to continue to look at it and see if there are any new things that come up that we can just… but as far as the system goes, it’s probably going to stay as is.”
Reading between the lines, it certainly seems like this is a version of what you hear from many companies, which is that while many people complain about microtransactions, just as many, if not more, are reluctant or even willing to put down money for them. Perhaps a sea of player data Street Fighter 6 developers have access to was also helpful in explaining this.
Despite only including four up-to-date characters, the Season 2 Hunt Pass costs $30, which is half the price of the full game. But to sweeten the deal, the full game is currently 50 percent off to celebrate its first anniversary. Meanwhile, M. Bison arrives in the summer. But the most significant part Street Fighter 6the company’s legacy and potential future may lie in more social experiments like Akuma’s online event.