Capcom Explains How Tifa From Final Fantasy 7 Came to Be a Street Fighter 6 DLC Character

Capcom has discussed the eye-catching inclusion of Tifa from Final Fantasy 7 came to beryllium a impermanent DLC quality successful Street Fighter 6, and explained wherefore she’s a cleanable acceptable for the game.

The announcement of Tifa arsenic 1 of Street Fighter 6’s Year 4 DLC characters, alongside Yasmine, Arjun, and Bosch, was 1 of the standout moments of Summer Game Fest 2026. Tekken fans had hoped for Tifa to marque her mode to Bandai Namco’s game, but alternatively she’s gone with Street Fighter 6. So, however did it happen?

IGN’s Simon Cardy spoke with Street Fighter manager Takayuki Nakayama and shaper Shuhei Matsumoto to find out. It turns retired the brace person a communal person who works astatine Square Enix, who they began talking to astir a collaboration of immoderate benignant astir 3 years ago. These talks led to the petition for Tifa, which proved successful.

“The archetypal speech began astir 3 years ago,” Nakayama explained. “We person a communal person who works astatine Square Enix, who's besides a large instrumentality of Street Fighter 6. We’d been discussing about, what tin we bash to collaborate somehow? And past yet those conversations led to, what astir a imaginable impermanent quality from 1 of their IPs oregon series?

“And astir that clip the Final Fantasy 7 remake bid was precise active, and looking astatine the quality background, a quality similar Tifa, who has a dense martial arts style, we thought that it would beryllium cleanable for Street Fighter 6. So it benignant of organically led to this happening.”

Street Fighter 6 released 3 years ago, successful June 2023, truthful those talks occurred precise aboriginal successful the game’s life, oregon possibly adjacent earlier it came out. By that clip Final Fantasy 7 remake was successful afloat flow, having launched successful 2020 and with Rebirth coming retired successful 2024. The 3rd crippled successful the remake trilogy, Revelation, is owed retired successful 2027.

Final Fantasy VII Revelation Screenshots

As for however Tifa volition really enactment successful Street Fighter 6, Nakayama kept his cards adjacent to his chest, but did corroborate that she volition person the aforesaid warring benignant she uses successful Final Fantasy 7. But determination is thing peculiar astir her mechanics: she has “materia-induced” gameplay that is circumstantial to Tifa. How this really works, though, remains a enigma for now. Here's the authoritative blurb connected Tifa from Capcom:

A highly skilled practitioner of Zangan-ryu Martial Arts and a subordinate of the Avalanche absorption group. During her travel with her companions, she is unexpectedly transported to different satellite wherever she encounters and bonds with caller fighters. Tifa excels successful close-range combat, combining martial arts techniques with unsocial powers called Abilities.

In presumption of Tifa’s Street Fighter 6 design, Matsumoto confirmed that Square Enix — and, specifically, Final Fantasy 7 pb quality decorator Tetsuya Nomura — has last say.

“When designing Tifa arsenic a quality for Street Fighter 6, a batch of notation materials were provided from the Final Fantasy 7 squad for the Capcom designers to make and instrumentality into the game,” helium explained. “A batch of things were taken into consideration, similar the exaggerations that are required for, for example, erstwhile a punch oregon a footwear lands. Ultimately that gets reviewed by the squad astatine Square Enix, including [Tetsuya] Nomura-san from the Final Fantasy 7 team. And past erstwhile that's approved, past it's up to the developers connected the Capcom broadside to instrumentality into the game.”

The Street Fighter 6 Year 4 Character and Ultimate walk sees Yasmine merchandise connected August 3, Arjun this fall, Tifa aboriginal 2027, and Bosch during the spring.

The Street Fighter 6 Year 4 DLC characters. Image credit: Capcom.

But what happens aft the Year 4 DLC characters are each released? With Street Fighter 6 present successful its 4th year, immoderate are wondering however overmuch beingness it has left. Capcom precocious announced the crippled had sold 7 cardinal copies, an awesome milestone that’s not acold down Street Fighter 5’s full of 7.9 cardinal copies sold. Before Street Fighter 6’s launch, Capcom had said it wanted the sequel to yet outsell its predecessor, targeting implicit 10 cardinal copies sold implicit the people of its lifetime.

Street Fighter 6 has immoderate mode to spell earlier it hits that milestone, but Capcom sounds blessed with wherever things are at, and it has promised to proceed to enactment the game. Street Fighter 7, it seems, is not coming immoderate clip soon.

“I personally privation Street Fighter 6 to beryllium moving and operating for arsenic agelong arsenic possible,” Matsumoto told IGN. “When we initially kicked disconnected the project, our interior extremity was to deed that 10-year beingness cycle. But that's wherefore we’re moving truthful hard to amended the prime of the crippled and to marque definite that the characters we present are charismatic and appealing.

“And the question regarding Street Fighter 7, that's not thing we’re truly reasoning astir close now. We’re seeing a batch of caller players coming into the crippled close present and we privation to proceed catering to that peculiar audience. So Street Fighter 6 and maintaining its longevity is the main focus.”

Nakayama past teased that there’s a batch much that helium wants to bash for Street Fighter 6, but wouldn’t beryllium drawn connected what exactly. “There's worldly that I’m thinking, but I don’t privation to spoil the amusive for everyone!” helium said.

The upcoming Street Fighter live-action movie whitethorn springiness Street Fighter 6 a changeable successful the arm. It’s owed retired October 16, 2026.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].