The Street Fighter 6 community is voicing frustration with a significant change to the Capcom Pro Tour.
On September 28th, Capcom Fighters announced on X that the upcoming Capcom Cup 12 Finals and SFL: World Championship, both taking place in March 2026, will both be a pay-per-view stream. Pay-per-view tickets will go on sale on November 12th, 2025.
While the Capcom Cup 12 Finals will have a free replay on March 21st and the SFL: World Championship will also have a free replay a week after the event on March 22nd, the FGC has expressed frustration with this new implementation.
FGC Accuses Capcom Of Being Greedy Over Pay-Per-View Finals
Street Fighter 6 has been growing in popularity over the last few years, with Evo viewership continuing to increase beyond Japan. Likely sensing the growing fanbase, Capcom has decided to put fans’ money where their mouth is. However, this approach has not been met with enthusiasm from the community.
Charging to watch large esports events is common in Japan, but the FGC was shocked that Capcom believed the North American fanbase would respond positively to this. Said one frustrated FGC fan: “The rest of the world does not have Japan’s culture. This will be the biggest PR nightmare for your brand. Good luck with that.”
Top Street Fighter 6 pro Adel ‘Big Bird’ Anouche also chimed in: “This is a very surprising and weird decision from Capcom. This isn’t going to be a positive thing for them.”
Another issue with pay-per-view tournaments is removing co-streaming and other community-based culture around the event. This alienation has left the FGC angry with Capcom. Big Bird said: “They should’ve just banned restreams from non-authorized channels and kept it the same.”
Another suggestion was selling costume packs during the event, which would give fans something exclusive to purchase while also funding Street Fighter 6’s esports scene. This would ensure the event was still accessible to everyone in the community.
At this time, it’s possible that Capcom will not go through with the pay-per-view plan after the intense amount of backlash. For now, ticket information is available here.
