FGC shocked by Capcom’s low prize pools in Street Fighter 6 CPT tournaments

Street Fighter 6 it often seems like one fighting game title that has broken free from the chains of the “struggling FGC” stereotype. Capcom Cup 12 is a big tournament with big prizes. However, that prize pool comes at a high cost to the Street Fighter scene as a whole.

FGC recently entered Capcom’s rules for the Capcom Pro Tour, which is the season leading up to the Capcom Cup. There are many regional and international tournaments that players can compete in, aiming to climb the leaderboard and qualify. However, these events are nowhere near as profitable as Capcom Cup 12. In fact, players feel that they are low on purpose so Capcom will have enough money left over to support the Capcom Cup, which increases how successful and big the field is.

Reporter Carver Fisher said: “Capcom will do anything to hold on to that $1 million Capcom Cup grand prize, even if it means choking the lives of dedicated event-goers.

“Probably the most confusing prize structure I’ve ever seen in esports.”

Throughout the year, FGC hosts several outstanding events with a variety of topics, bringing together the fighting game community. Some of these events are part of the CPT, which is considered the premier tournament for Street Fighter players. These include COMBO BREAKER and CEO 2026, both of which have prize pools provided by Capcom.

Only $2,000 to the winner.

Even more shocking, Capcom does not offer awards for Evo 2026 or other events despite being part of the CPT. These prize locations must be provided by the tournament organizer.

This award structure was found to be “disrespectful” and “confusing” to FGC members. Although the Capcom Cup is a tournament with a lot of money, few players will enter. This means that players don’t win anything for an entire year, even if they are at the top of their game.

This has led some fighting game fans to call Capcom “greedy,” a charge that has been floating around for some time. The decision to make the Top 16 of Capcom Cup 12 a pay-per-view event rubs the FGC the wrong way. There was so much backlash from fans outside of Japan that Capcom had to drop ticket prices.

But the damage was already done. Many felt that Capcom cared more about making money than supporting the Street Fighter 6 community. Preventing FGC content creators from co-streaming the event did not sit well with many fans, who felt that Capcom was hurting the community’s growth just to make money.

This award structure sounds like another song in the community. It’s hard to grow FGC when players are only awarded $2,000 for flying around the world and placing first. It’s demeaning and financially useless to many professional players, let alone casual players who won’t play.

At this point, can we really make fun of the Smash scene? It’s often derided for its extremely low prize pools, but that’s because Nintendo not only ignored the scene but also. destroyed with it over the years, removing Smash from Evo and shutting down tournaments. But Street Fighter has the support of Capcom. Capcom works with complete region. However the swimming pool is pretty much the same all year round.

I would say this is very inexcusable. Smash’s excuse is that it is sponsored by fans. Capcom simply deliberately refuses to create a viable tournament prize structure for anything other than the Capcom Cup. As Fisher said, I think this creates an illusion of success, with Capcom being able to brag about their million dollar tournament. However, pro players suffer throughout the year.

With so little money in the fighting game space, it’s easy to see why Capcom wouldn’t want to invest more. But it’s still shocking to see in front of your face. Moreover, it was not always so. A few years ago, the prize pools were much better. This only adds to the accusations of “greed” that have been circulating in recent times.

Even though the FGC is full of passion and determination, that doesn’t mean we like to see the experts get confused because they can be.