I thought announcing yet another Street Fighter movie would be the dumbest thing Capcom would do this year. Sadly, I stand corrected. Almost every game that can be played competitively, from StarCraft to Magic: The Gathering, has at some point decided it needs to esport aggressively, with mixed results. The Capcom Cup is the Street Fighter 6 publisher's crown jewel, and it seems determined to drive the whole process right into the ditch.
Capcom is planning to charge $40 for virtual tickets to watch the event, now pros and fans are asking the publisher to please read the room. Economic conditions are not great globally. As 2025 Evo Winner Saul Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena II posted on X, no one should be deprived of the opportunity to enjoy the pinnacle of Street Fighter.
This is especially bad in regions such as MenaRD's home, the Dominican Republic. This feels like Capcom trying to fleece its most loyal and dedicated fans to watch their hometown heroes, and it's icky.
As many pros have noted, this extra revenue hasn't been added to the event's $1,282,000 prize pool. Longtime fans know that the esports scene we have now was built primarily by the players. It took years for the publishers to realize there was money in this. Players built up incredible touranment scenes for what in the beginning was precious little financial reward.
EVO itself is a huge industry success, going from a player built event to something big enough for Sony, and then the Saudi Public Investment Fund to purchase.
This Capcom stunt sounds like the work of the same consultants who convinced Bobby Kotick that Overwatch could be so popular it would one day rival the NBA and NFL. Overwatch League, built off that extremely faulty premise, failed spectacularly.
I say this as somebody who routinely pays to attend conventions and fighting game tournaments. The FGC is a tiny niche within another niche. The Capcom Cup is not the Super Bowl. Can it be one day? Perhaps. But that's only if Capcom doesn't kill it before then with terrible decisions like this one. The event isn't until March, so there's plenty of time to undo this.