The wait for Akuma to make his Street Fighter 6 appearance is almost over. As revealed during Evo Japan 2024, Akuma will be available as a playable character on May 22, 2024. He will be free for owners of Street Fighter 6 Deluxe Edition, Ultimate Edition, or the Season 1 Character Pass.
Check out Akuma’s reveal trailer below:
In addition to Akuma’s release, a major balance patch will change all characters. So far, Capcom hasn’t revealed just what changes are coming but has stated it will post those changes on its social media channels. You can come back here, as we’ll be posting those balancing updates once we find out.
As with the rest of the SF6 Year 1 characters, Akuma will become your Master in World Tour mode. You’ll be able to find him in a new area called Enma’s Hollow, which is located on the island of Gokuento. After increasing your bond with Akuma, he’ll teach you his demonic moves, which you can then assign to your avatar to be used in your World Tour travels or in Avatar Battles in the Battle Hub.
Akuma returns with his same bag of tricks, some new moves, and an important change. His new move includes the Adamant Flame, where he’ll perform a forward punch that is engulfed in flames (it looks like he wants to copy Ken). This move can be used in combos, and the Overdrive version can bounce opponents off walls, giving Akuma move combo potential. Demon Raid is the other new movie and is the Street Fighter 6 version of Hyakkishu (Hundred Ogre Assault). As Akuma leaps into the air with this move, choose to follow up with a low kick, overhead attack, dive kick, or to end the leap early. The OD version of Demon Raid unlocks two more follow-ups: an air fireball and an air tatsu.
Akuma’s Level 1 Super Art is Messatsu Gohado, where he fires a highly concentrated ball of Satsui no Hado. Like most Level 1s, this move is invulnerable on start-up. Akuma has a second Level 1 called Tenma Gozanku where he unleashes the fireball from the air.
Empyrean’s End is Akuma’s Level 2 Super Art. It involves turning the Satsui no Hado into a powerful flame and igniting it within the opponent. Using this move close to the corner will result in a wall splat, where Akuma can continue his pressure or damage. Empyrean’s End is also invulnerable on start-up.
Akuma’s first Level 3 Super Art is Sip of Calamity, another move that is invulnerable on start-up! He throws opponents on the ground with their faces and follows up with a single devastating blow.
Of course, the biggest change is the Shun Goku Satsu / Raging Demon, which is now a level 3 super art. This can only be performed when Akuma’s health is low enough for a Critical Art. However, despite this change, Capcom reports that the move can now be used to end combos. In the past, it was too slow and easy enough to avoid or counter, but now, it’s nearly instant, as seen in Aukuma’s reveal trailer.
Akuma will be playable on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam) on May 22, 2024.
Sources: Capcom, PlayStation Blog
