A lot has seemingly changed for Ed in Street Fighter 6 since his gameplay debut in Street Fighter 5. Ed now has his simplified controls with Modern Controls enabled and will now exclusively throw punches to fit his style as a traditional boxer.
Previously, we briefly questioned if Ed was still involved with Neo Shadaloo considering how things played out for Bosch in the World Tour mode. It almost seemed odd that he would be considering the main goal behind founding the organization in the first place was to seek out and help victims of Shadaloo’s experimentations.
The fact that Ed is not only still involved with Neo Shadaloo, but is also the leader of the organization has become clear thanks to several excerpts from the recent PlayStation Blog that came paired with his gameplay trailer for Street Fighter 6.
“Coming into his own confidence, he formed Neo Shadaloo with a group of other experiments, intending to help others like them,” said the PlayStation Blog of Ed. “In present-day Street Fighter 6, he senses movement in the shadows from the remnants of Shadaloo. Ed soon discovers they have a twisted goal and need his unique abilities to achieve it.”
Neo Shadaloo comes up again when the topic of Ed’s level 3 Super Art is brought up. This implies that he’s still fighting for Neo Shadaloo’s goals.
“Finally, in Ed’s Level 3 Super Art, Psycho Chamber, he turns opponents into his own personal punching bag by tying their limbs and pummeling them in the name of Neo Shadaloo,” continued the blog.
At the blog’s conclusion, Ed is seemingly still referred to as Neo Shadaloo’s leader.
“Celebrate Ed’s incoming entrance with the Ed Arrives! Fighting Pass. Active right now until he releases on February 27. Until then, prepare to make way for the leader of Neo Shadaloo.”
Emphasis is also placed on the emblem seen on Ed’s neck and the logo on his back. Based on the similarities to the Shadaloo symbol, it’s entirely possible that this is intended to be Neo Shadaloo’s insignia.
At about the midpoint of World Tour’s main story, Bosch is abducted by Juri on behalf of Neo Shadaloo. The next time we encounter Bosch, we find out that he’s developed Psycho Powers due to experimentation on him by Neo Shadaloo.
Ultimately, things don’t end well for Bosch as JP, another Psycho Power user that branched off of Shadaloo’s fall in Street Fighter 5, caught wind of the plan that was intended for him. Regardless, it didn’t feel like Bosch had much of a future considering how his Psycho Powers were becoming too difficult for him to control.
This all comes across as peculiar considering how conflicting this event is with Neo Shadaloo’s founding goal of saving those that have suffered due to Shadaloo’s experimentation. Since Ed is confirmed to be Neo Shadaloo’s leader, this suggests that he holds some responsibility with it all.