Hannan Mundia 
Akuma is joining the Street Fighter 6 roster and putting a cork in the game’s Year 1 Character Pass, and fans have new details on his release date and potential moves.
Street Fighter 6 might have come out in June 2023, but new characters have kept things fresh. Just a couple of weeks after the release of another DLC character, Ed, Capcom gave fans a teaser trailer for Akuma during the Capcom Highlights showcase event. Although Capcom had previously confirmed Akuma would be coming to Street Fighter 6 months prior, the showcase event reaffirmed the release window of the character while giving more details on the long-time antagonist’s abilities.
The trailer was strictly cinematic and didn’t include any gameplay footage. Still, fans can get an idea of what this new iteration of the character will look and play like.
What moves will Akuma have in Street Fighter 6?
Akuma will seemingly have many of the same moves that fans know and love including the gohadoken and goshoryuken.
The Akuma teaser trailer from Capcom showed Akuma striking a giant statue multiple times inside a cave, creating a shockwave with every hit. Eventually, the cave’s walls collapse shortly after he performs a gohadoken-like attack on the statue, resulting in him using his trademark goshoryuken uppercut to blast through the falling boulders and the statue’s head.
These moves may hint at some of the changes that are to come in the game. Though Akuma has typically had similar moves to Ken and Ryu, the trailer hints that he might be more of a close-range fighter or might have a linear super version of the goshoryuken, like Dan’s gadoken and Ken’s shinryuken, respectively. The ending to the trailer could also hint at the return of the sekia kuretsuha from SF5 or the kongou kokuretsuzan from SF3.
Much like Ryu, the Street Fighter 6 version of Akuma seems to be much bulkier compared to previous entries in the series. It remains to be seen if his physical changes will affect his speed or attack power while in-game. Unlike other characters on the roster, Akuma is actually showing his age to some degree as his hair and beard seem to be fully gray in the time between the two games.
What is Akuma’s Street Fighter 6 release date?
Akuma will join the Street Fighter 6 roster in Spring 2024, although the exact release date is unknown. A possible landing spot would be during Evo Japan 2024, which runs from April 27 to April 29.
Owners of Street Fighter 6 Deluxe Edition or Ultimate Edition, and those who purchased the game’s Year 1 Character Pass or Ultimate Pass, will get access to Akuma as soon as he’s added to the game.
Akuma won’t be coming alone, as a new World Tour area called Gokuento will come to the game alongside him. Gukuento is a callback to Akuma’s stage in Street Fighter Alpha 2 and there, players can ask Akuma to be their custom character’s master to learn his iconic moveset.
