Bullying companies works: Capcom tries and fails to make Street Fighter 6 fans pay $40 to watch a tournament, reduces pay-per-view price to $10 and commits to showing it for free inside the game

Capcom has rolled back its controversial decision to charge $40 to watch the Street Fighter 6 Capcom Cup finals, but the tournament is still not totally free, either.

Back at Tokyo Game Show 2025, Capcom announced this year's Capcom Cup finals and Street Fighter League World Championship would be aired via pay-per-view, with the previously-free Capcom Cup final costing around $26 on its own, or $40 to watch both it and the Street Fighter League. Naturally, fans were not happy at all, and MenaRD – the only two time Capcom Cup champion – expressed his distaste Capcom's decision, saying he probably wouldn't have pursued the game as his career if the whole world always had to engage in pay-per-view.

However, when tournament tickets were finally released today, they were listed at the far lower price of $10 for both streams. The official Capcom Fighters account posted a message today on Twitter alongside the release of tickets with an explanation.

"First of all, we sincerely apologize for taking time to make this announcement," said Tetsuya Tabuchi, Capcom's eSports business department manager.

Tabuchi continued, "Following the announcement that live viewing for this event would be ticketed, we carefully reviewed the many opinions and feedback from the community." He said, "We have decided on the following: To revise the pricing of live viewing tickets and to implement special collaborative initiatives within Street Fighter 6."

Live viewing ticket purchasers will also receive a special color for Rashid in Street Fighter 6, and Capcom will trial live-streaming in Street Fighter 6's battle hub. Anyone who watches the event from within Street Fighter 6 will be able to access it for free, with the caveat that you won't get commentary, and the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game doesn't support live streaming.

Reaction to the change is still somewhat mixed. One user says "It is better, but I am still never going to pay to watch Capcom cup," while another adds "We are already a niche community, If everything becomes paywalled, new players simply won't come." On the other hand, some are willing to hear Capcom out, with one user saying "This is a good middle ground for everyone."

Regardless, I wouldn't be shocked if this whole debacle makes Capcom rethink its pricing for the Capcom Cup next year. But people need to vote with their wallets – because if this year's Cup sells well enough, you may see Street Fighter esports become PPV every day, not just its finals

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