A demon is rapidly approaching the stage of Street Fighter 6 after keeping fans waiting for nearly a year, and you can now catch a glimpse as to how he’ll be looking in the game itself.
Street Fighter 6 Director Takayuki Nakayama just shared the first look at Akuma on the character select screen.
Nakayama’s post shows only the bottom portion of the game screen, which displays Akuma sitting in a rather patient position on the floor, though like most characters in the game, he probably has some more animation flourishes we don’t get to see here — as well as when he’s actually picked.
It also means his actual character portrait on the character select screen isn’t visible in the image either unfortunately.
The post was made in anticipation of the special early preview event that’s about to start in Japan where some lucky players are going to get their hands on the returning demon.
Running from May 1–6 Japan time, Akuma is going to be playable at the real world Battle Hub in the SF6 exhibit at the Lagunasia resort.
Those willing to wait in line and / or enter a lottery drawing can take the last Year 1 DLC character for a test drive, but only for 10 minutes at a time.
Don’t go expecting to see any footage of Akuma or the Season 2 balance changes pop up online, however, as Nakayama’s post appears to state that photography and video capture of the demo is prohibited at the event unsurprisingly — unless you’ve got director privileges like him.
Although Capcom finally showed off his gameplay trailer at Evo Japan, there’s still a lot left to be discovered for Akuma like his combo routes, special properties and how the traditionally strong fighter is going to interact with the Drive System.
Everyone else will only have to wait around three more weeks to dive in with the seasoned Satsui no Hado master since he’s scheduled to drop on May 22.
This timing, however, is creating a bit of a conundrum for Combo Breaker 2024 taking place just a few days later, so the organizers may end up letting the players decide whether Akuma and the balance update should be legal or not.
You can check out the first look at Akuma on the character select screen below.
Click images for larger versions
