The latest bout of Capcom ransomware leaks feature an email discussing the unannounced and rumored Street Fighter VI.
As previously reported, Capcom announced to investors their networks “experienced issues that affected access to certain systems, including email and file servers.” This was caused by “unauthorized access carried out by a third party” but stated there was no customer information taken.
Ransomware hacker group Ragnar Locker declared they had performed the hack; locking Capcom out of their own files and making copies for themselves. They demanded $11 million USD to decrypt 1TB of stolen corporate data.
It would seem that demand was not paid, as the group began leaking the information online. This included news on Resident Evil VIIIage (also known as Resident Evil Village), Monster Hunter Rise, Ace Attorney, and politically correct business strategies.
Now, WCCFTech (citing Twitter user PokeProtos) report on the leaks including an email discussing “Street Fighter6,” what will likely be named Street Fighter VI. The email discusses outsourcing the creation of models to Keywords International. The games platforms include Windows PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Disclaimer: On January 13th, 2021, we received a DMCA Takedown Notice from Capcom regarding images in this article. These images have now been removed.
WCCFTech had previously reported on rumors [1, 2] of the game launching worldwide in 2021, but delayed due to the game not being received well in internal testing.
Their suspicions were due to the change in the Capcom Cup rules so the 2020 Champion would not automatically qualify for the 2021 tournament (which also occurred before the launch of Street Fighter V), and Capcom insider “Dusk Golem” who had previously discussed Resident Evil rumors [1, 2, 3].
Dusk Golem claimed the game went over poorly internally and with testers due to an over-focus on a team mechanic. This allegedly resulted on the game’s director Yoshinori Ono being demoted, while someone else was put in charge to improve the game with an additional year of development. This resulted in another Season Pass for Street Fighter V to buy time.
While those tweets were made in early August, it was a few days after that Ono announced he would be leaving Capcom. Ono had also previously been demoted to eSports Executive Producer in May of that year.
While the two events seem to have synergy (if true), it is surprising Dusk Golem did not mention that Ono was “encouraged” to leave, unless Ono genuinely left of his own volition.
Dusk Golem also stated he knew little of the new director, other than hearing “she’s pretty well known in the fighting game community, brought some really cool ideas to fix the game with what was there.” He agreed with another user’s speculation that it could be Midori Yuasa, who was promoted to CEO of the Capcom Media Ventures division; handling Capcom’s eSports and media outside of Japan.
Image: Street Fighter V via Steam