We just got a Street Fighter 6 AKI Release Date. Learn everything you need to know about the new fighter.
After Rashid dive-kicked in the door for Season 1 of Street Fighter 6, the next fighter is already lined up. AKI makes her Street Fighter Debut at the end of September and comes with her own spin on the poison character.
We first got a teaser at EVO 2023, but now Capcom released the first gameplay trailer of the second character to join the roster. We got the release date as well as a detailed breakdown of her gameplay.
Street Fighter 6 AKI Release Date
AKI will bless us with her presence on September 6, 2023. She will be released on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC at the same time. And in the lead-up to her release, she’ll probably get a Fighter Pass, similar to Rashid‘s which will give players the opportunity to gain costumes and profile decorations themed after her.
As we approach her release, she’ll also be playable at major major tournaments if Capcom has a booth there. Expect to see more footage of her really soon.
AKI is the 2nd character of Street Fighter 6’s Season 1. The first one was Rashid, now followed by AKI, with Street Fighter 5 character Ed still to come in the Winter of this year. Akuma will also make his return in early 2024.
Street Fighter 6 AKI Gameplay
AKI is a student of the Street Fighter 5 character FANG. FANG was a weird character in a stacked roster and naturally that meant he found himself at the bottom of the tier lists. That didn’t stop Purto Rican pro player MonoPR from winning CEO 2021 with him. But before that, it had been brought for FANG enjoyers.
From what we’ve seen so far AKI looks like an attempt to redeem FANG by reinventing him completely. Her main gameplay gimmick is the usage of poison similar to her master. Once the poison is applied, the other players’ HP will slowly drain, as well as the grey life they had from chip damage.
In Street Fighter 5, FANG’s applied poison would disappear when taking damage. We can assume that AKI will have to deal with similar mechanics. Just like her master, she has access to some weird moves that have her slither around like a snake.
She also has a slow poison projectile, a poison trap that she can place on the ground as well as some long-range pokes. Making her this weird type of a zoner that is effective both in the middle and short range.
It also looks like she has two(?) command grabs which can be initiated after her weird slither move which also has huge cross-up potential and can be cancelled into some kind of punch combination. Think of Cammy’s Hooligan set ups just way more creepy.
Her normals also seem absurd. AKI has long limbs that allow her to poke away at you from a long-range, at least one EX move that pulls the other player towards her, and looks like they have an almost crazy mix-up potential.
Her Level 1 super is a simple kick that will end up poisoning the other player with some amount of damage. But her Level 2 also poisons the player but is only effective in a sort of arch from the short to medium range. Lastly her Level 3/CA in a punch that leads to the most painful acupuncture session I’ve ever been witness to.
To summarize all of this, AKI looks incredibly strong but also a little weird. She seems to borrow something from all types of Street Fighters making her something wholly unique. Perhaps she is the belated FANG redemption arc that maybe 5 people have been hoping for. All it took was to make FANG a girl that will definitely kill you in your sleep.
As a wiser man said, No you can not fix her and you deserve better. But I, personally, will main her.