Street Fighter 6 looks to bring new players into the world of fighting games with Dynamic Controls, an accessibility feature designed to help less experienced players find their footing in local play. Capcom wants Street Fighter 6 to be the most approachable entry in the series with a suite of options designed for newcomers and competitive players alike.
Game Informer's Brian Shea recently had a hands-on session with Street Fighter 6, revealing the game's Dynamic Controls accessibility option on behalf of Capcom director Takayuki Nakayama. The Dynamic Controls option allows new fighting game players to rely on AI-assisted auto attacks by pressing the standard face buttons on the controller. For example, pressing square and circle buttons on a PlayStation controller will result in Ryu executing a combo that would normally require intricate inputs in Street Fighter 6. Dynamic Controls focus on ensuring every player can have fun with friends and family locally without prior experience in fighting games.
"Button mashing" is normally seen as an insult for fighting game players, but Nakayama was given inspiration by the notion while developing Street Fighter 6. According to Nakayama, he wants new fighting game players to experience "something important" while randomly pressing buttons. In normal fighting games, mashing buttons to perform attacks usually results in whiffs and dropped combos, which leaves the player open for counterattacks from an opponent. Dynamic Controls allows players to perform combos and supers while allowing strategy to still play a role in Street Fighter 6's local play. Players can still move the character and perform manual parries, allowing them to improve their fighting game skills with some needed assistance.
Capcom worked to balance Modern and Classic Controls within Street Fighter 6 to allow for uncompromised competitive play at different skill levels. Nakayama believes some high-level competitive players will use Modern Controls since it simplifies attacks to fewer buttons, and mobility remains a decisive factor in Street Fighter 6. Dynamic Controls are meant to be an "easy mode" for new Street Fighter 6 players, and the ability to change control options always remains. Although gameplay has evolved in Street Fighter 6, the series' core fighting game experience is retained.
Street Fighter 6 is gearing up to be the most accessible game in the series without negatively impacting online competitive play and tournament play. Dynamic Controls should be an effective option for casual players and newcomers while retaining what makes the Street Fighter series fun to play.
Street Fighter 6's long-term success relies on years of support from Capcom following launch. Fortunately, Capcom is well-known for supporting its fighting games for many years as Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition has shown previously.
Street Fighter 6 launches in 2023 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Source: Game Informer