Where does ‘Street Fighter 6’ come in the series chronology?

Street Fighter 6 arrives on PlayStation, Xbox and PC next week, promising the biggest and most feature-packed entry in the iconic fighting game franchise to date. The game comes with a huge amount of single-player content, with the star feature the “World Tour” single-player campaign that lets you explore the wide world of street fighting and try to become the strongest around.

Along the way, you’ll meet some of the most famous fighters in the series and learn their moves, as well as unraveling a dark conspiracy building on the stories of the previous games. However, casual fans might not know precisely where Street Fighter 6 fits into the rather tangled series chronology. So, here’s where it fits in.

The ‘Street Fighter’ chronology

Capcom’s franchise began with 1987’s Street Fighter, though it wasn’t until 1991’s international smash hit Street Fighter II that Ryu, Chun-Li and pals hit the big time. Street Fighter is the earliest part of the saga, though after Street Fighter II, Capcom released the three Street Fighter Alpha games, which were prequels exploring what happened between the first and second World Warrior tournaments.

It wasn’t until 2009 that we got Street Fighter IV, a direct sequel to Street Fighter II and 2015’s Street Fighter V continued that story. But then there’s a chronological curve ball, as 1997’s Street Fighter III jumped forward in time and attempted to conclude the story. That game saw older versions of key characters and many new fighters and, for 25 years, was the conclusion of the Street Fighter timeline.

When does ‘Street Fighter 6’ take place?

Well, up until now that is. Street Fighter 6 takes place after the events of Street Fighter III, substantially moving the stories of legacy characters forward. For example, as of this game, Ryu has finally found inner peace in Buddhism and defeated the evil power within him. Chun Li has retired from Interpol and become a kung fu teacher, and Ken has hit legal trouble and been divorced.

So, just to underline, the current chronology is Street Fighter, Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter II, Street Fighter IV, Street Fighter V, Street Fighter III, and now Street Fighter 6 at the end.

As II provided the characters’ birth dates, we know that almost every Street Fighter game prior to 6 was set in the 1990s, making Ryu (who was born in 1964) in his early thirties by the time of III. We don’t know exactly when 6 is set, though as the characters aren’t dramatically older it’s safe to assume that it takes place sometime in the early-mid 2000s (which makes the presence of smartphones and social media in World Tour anachronistic but hey, it’s an alternate reality).

We’re willing to bet most people playing Street Fighter 6 won’t be too concerned about the extensive lore behind the Hadokens and Spinning Bird Kicks, but someone at Capcom clearly cares, and a lot of effort has been put into developing familiar fighters in different ways, as well as introducing a bunch of new larger-than-life characters into the story. We’re busy playing our review copy now, and can’t wait to see the online multiplayer come to life at launch.

Street Fighter 6 arrives on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on June 2.