Capcom has finally issued a warning [[link]] to those who are getting a little too brazen with their cracked copies of Street Fighter 6, threatening to disqualify them from future tournaments.
It's an open [[link]] secret that a cracked version of Street Fighter 6's closed beta test has existed since October 2022. Many have been chipping away at the game in private, labbing its small roster of characters and practising their execution in anticipation of June's release. Some have been a little cheekier, bringing the cracked copy to local tournaments or casuals to play offline among friends.
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However, it seems that as time has gone on, people have been getting a little too cocky with how openly they're playing something they shouldn't be. A select handful of streamers have been publicly playing the game on Twitch, leading professional players to complain that Capcom was "being too soft" in its approach. "I feel like those playing on the cracked version should be permanently banned," he said during a stream in April.
It seems Capcom has listened, as it's now released a statement warning of potential tournament bans. "It has come to our attention that some users have been accessing the Street Fighter 6 Closed Beta Test (CBT) software and playing the game outside of the designated period," a tweet from the developer read. "For the avoidance of doubt, from this point forward, any player who is shown with clear evidence to be accessing the CBT in an unauthorized way may be deemed ineligible for the upcoming Capcom Pro Tour and Street Fighter League seasons."
Now, playing the cracked beta [[link]] probably isn't going to afford huge advantages. If it does, it certainly won't be long until better players come along and outclass them. Couple that with the small roster selection and what will no doubt be some balance changes on release, and it seems somewhat pointless that Capcom is choosing to address the problem a mere four weeks from release. The warning definitely would have been more welcome back in 2022, and it's not like the developer wasn't .
Jokes about disqualifying players and uh… questionable "CBT" tweets aside, the general consensus does seem to be that it's better late than never. Whether any actual tournament bans will come from it remains to be seen, but with at this year's Capcom Pro Tour, I'd imagine pros are gonna be a little more careful in the runup to the full release.