Street Fighter 6 Producer: How We Saved the Franchise from Dying

Did you know Street Fighter was on the brink of death? In a recent interview, Street Fighter 6 producer Shuhei Matsumoto opened up about how dire things got during the Street Fighter V era—and how he and director Takayuki Nakayama pulled the franchise back from the edge.

Street Fighter V launched in February 2016 to a rocky reception. Players felt it was unfinished, missing basic modes like arcade and story, and its netplay was unstable. By the time Matsumoto stepped in as producer near the end of SFV's life—after Yoshinori Ono left Capcom in 2020—the series was in trouble. Matsumoto and Nakayama realized the IP could fade into obscurity within a decade if they didn't act fast.

"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," Matsumoto said in an October 2026 interview with Karin Ohira. "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."

One major red flag: the player base was aging. Matsumoto noted that SFV's players were roughly 35 to 45 years old. "In 10 years, these people will be 60," he explained. "It's difficult to sustain the franchise if we only rely on that group." He added that Street Fighter had become a distant presence—people knew of the scene but weren't actually playing. "We're a game company, yet people weren't playing our game. Isn't that the most fatal thing?"

So how did they turn it around with Street Fighter 6? Matsumoto said they avoided leaning on the series' historic name recognition. Instead, they started with a blank slate, as if the current generation had never heard of Street Fighter. "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," he said.

A key part of that strategy was the Modern control scheme, designed to make the game more accessible. Other approachable features included World Tour Mode (now paused for the foreseeable future), the Battle Hub, and real-time commentary from community figures like Vicious and Tasty Steve. The plan clearly worked: Street Fighter 6 has sold over seven million lifetime units as of summer 2026, making it one of Capcom's most successful Street Fighter games ever. It's huge in Japan and abroad, with a massive playerbase on Steam and consoles.

It's a big year for Capcom overall. They've released three critically-acclaimed titles—Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword—and the Street Fighter movie hits on October 16, following the Resident Evil adaptation directed by Zach Cregger.

What do you think of Matsumoto's approach? Are you one of the seven million who picked up Street Fighter 6? Let us know in the comments!