Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022 

Early Street Fighter V Ryu Prototype Design Could Provide a Glimpse Into Street Fighter 6

  

Take a look back into some official Street Fighter V art books and reference materials, and you'll find a prototype of a "darker" and very different version of SFV Ryu than what we got. After witnessing Ryu's intense SF6 reveal, one might wonder if Ryu's personality or powers will change following the events of SFIII: 3rd Strike which is precisely where the estimated timeline of Street Fighter 6 takes place. Revealed in a screenshot of a very early build of SFV (below), you'll notice a fully-rendered Ryu wearing a chest / arm bandage, having messier hair, and fighting shirtless. Not to mention, he's facing an otherworldy gray-haired M. Bison who also happens to appear older and grittier than his SFV form.
 


This screenshot shows a more realistically-shaded and conceptualized visual aesthetic was originally planned for Street Fighter V.
 
If the same developers who worked on these early SFV concepts are still at Capcom (and working on SF6), this "canceled" direction / timeline for SFV could actually have some influence on the development of Street Fighter 6. Not only from a visual perspective, either. What was the story behind this rugged Ryu and cybernetically-enhanced M. Bison, if any? Will these character developments have any relevance with SF6's storyline? I'm pretty sure Ryu will stay true to his character and remain a "good guy" in SF6... but we don't really know for sure, do we.

If the early teaser trailer is any indication, we can expect SF6's visuals to move away from "cartoony" and towards hyper-realistic graphics or even a much darker tone
which Capcom is fully capable of doing, Resident Evil 2: REMake and Resident Evil 3: REmake being prime examples.

Below is official concept artwork of the darker SFV Ryu prototype.
 


It's unknown if the fiery design on Ryu's right arm
, which connects to a "moon" shape on his chest, was going to have some relevance to his character development... but it seems so, if Capcom went through the trouble of changing up his design this much (thankfully, they didn't). And what's with all the bandages? Was Ryu trying to suppress the Satsui no Hadou spreading throughout his body, which would result in him transforming into Evil Ryu?

This prototype was more far along than you might think, with at least 6 alternate colors already planned. This version of Ryu might be a totally scrapped concept (likely), but who knows... maybe certain ideas from this early build will be retooled in Street Fighter 6 in some form. Crazier things have happened in fighting game development.
 


As previously reported, Yusuke Hashimoto (Bayonetta, Resident Evil 4, Devil May Cry, Street Fighter Alpha 3) confirmed on Twitter that he is one of the game designers working on Street Fighter 6. Considering some of the recent games he's worked on, I think we're in for a visibly "darker" Street Fighter in SF6. Capcom said they will have "more to reveal" regarding SF6 this Summer.

Keep it here on Fighters Generation for upcoming Street Fighter 6 news!
~TFG Webmaster, Frank Joseph | @Fighters_Gen

 

 Sources:  Capcom           Related Tweet:  @Fighters_Gen

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  Related TFG Links:  SFV: Champion EditionTimelineRyuM. Bison | TFG NEWS
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