Street Fighter 6 is here, and according to early reviews, it kicks ass. [Hey boss, am I allowed to say “ass” in the intro?] But with a brand new game engine, high-poly character models, and some truly insane special movies and effects, you might need some beefy hardware in order to get all those beefy combatants looking their best. Fortunately, Capcom has released a free benchmarking tool to help you know if your PC is ready…or if you might be overdue for some upgrades.
The tool is available directly from StreetFighter.com. It’s an absolutely massive 15.7-gigabyte download, but then, it’s basically running a full version of the game engine. After running, the tool gives you a score from zero to 100. Anything below 30 means you’re busted, 31-70 means you need to ramp the settings down, and 70 or above means you’re good to go. Capcom recommends tweaking your settings until you can hit 91 or above for the smoothest gameplay.
The benchmark runs through an action-packed bout between Ryu and the new guy Luke, then the overworld mode, then some outdoor cinematics and exploration in Street Fighter‘s knock-off NYC. At 1440p with the default settings, my PC with its RTX 3070 and dusty Core i5-9600K, my desktop breezed to a 100 score. That’s based on a 60FPS target. Based on my results, the game should be pretty accessible for anyone with hardware from the last four to five years, with settings adjustments.
Cooler Master
Incidentally, Street Fighter 6 is going hard on a PC release, especially for a one-on-one fighter — traditionally a genre very focused on consoles. Capcom has partnered with Cooler Master for a series of licensed PC accessories, including a full TD500 Mesh V2 desktop case, plus a themed keyboard, mouse, and headset. (Why would you play a 2D fighting game with a keyboard and mouse?)
