Capcom has announced that all Street Fighter 6 players will receive a free in-game surprise in celebration of the newly launched fighting game reaching one million players. After the limited success that Street Fighter 5 faced when it launched in 2016, there were some worries that Street Fighter 6 would face similar struggles. Yet Capcom appears to be excited and celebratory over Street Fighter 6's recent release, and players are reaping the benefits.
Street Fighter 6 launched this past Friday on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Initial sales numbers are not yet available, but there's been evidence that launch has been very successful for Capcom. For example, concurrent players on Steam have shown that Street Fighter 6's launch is the most popular fighting game release in history. It peaked at over 70,000 players at one time, compared to Street Fighter 5's peak of under 15,000.
This is the first official announcement regarding just how many people are playing Street Fighter 6, though. In a message posted to the Japanese Street Fighter Twitter account, Capcom confirms that the fighting game has crossed one million players. Street Fighter 5, for comparison's sake, is estimated to have sold less than 500,000 copies during its first week of availability. Players online don't necessarily translate directly to total copies sold, of course. Street Fighter 6 could be very far ahead of that 1 million number in total sales.
In celebration of its first million players, Capcom is giving away a reward to everyone currently logging into Street Fighter 6. It's nothing crazy. There are no free Street Fighter 6 skins or currency rewards. Instead, Capcom is sending out a free title to every Street Fighter 6 player. The title reads "Just Picked Up SF6" and can be claimed in a player's in-game notifications. It's a great title for new Street Fighter 6 players to use, to convey they're just starting with the game.
Another great announcement made alongside Street Fighter 6 reaching one million players is overall significantly more impressive. The Street Fighter franchise, as a whole, has now surpassed 50 million copies. Street Fighter 6 makes up just a small fraction of that total at the moment but could grow to be one of if not the most successful games in Street Fighter history in time.
In many ways, the excitement surrounding Street Fighter 6 at the moment feels like nothing the Street Fighter franchise has ever seen. In just its first weekend, there have been tens of thousands of viewers for Street Fighter 6 livestreams, in-person tournaments like at DreamHack Dallas, and a ton of great community-building both in-game and out. Capcom's sales target for Street Fighter 6 is said to be 10 million lifetime sales. It's already on the path to that number.
Street Fighter 6 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
