Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
A strange thing happened with Combo Breaker 2024 over this last month. When Capcom announced it would be releasing a large-scale balance patch and Akuma as a DLC character a few days before the Chicago-area tournament, organizer Rick “The Hadou” Thiher made a poll asking players if they should let the patch and Akuma play or stay on the old update for the tournament. The poll overwhelmingly voted in favor of the patch and Akuma will be legal to play at Combo Breaker 2024, just two days after his release.
Combo Breaker 2024 passed down this decision on its social media channels this week. Normally, when a character and patch launches so close to a major tournament, the tournament organizers choose to not run the game with the update and forbid the new character from legal tournament play. In this case, however, tournament lead Rick Thiher announced that the team had sent out a poll to registered Street Fighter 6 players asking them if they wanted the patch and Akuma to run. The results ended up in favor of letting Akuma and the patch run and Combo Breaker 2024 is abiding by them.
It's going to make for a very interesting tournament to say the least, but one that Combo Breaker can get away with. The tournament is a large one in the Chicago area, but it’s not a stop on the Capcom Cup Pro Tour, which would undoubtedly be a factor in Akuma and the patch running otherwise. Rick himself was dumbfounded by the response, but respects the community’s desire to run the patch anyways.
Akuma comes to Street Fighter 6 next week, and Combo Breaker 2024 kicks off on the weekend after. Stay tuned to our fighting games coverage for more updates on the action as it happens, right here at Shacknews.