‘We are reviewing pricing’: Capcom responds to fan backlash after decision to charge $40 to watch tournament final streams
As it stands, the Capcom Cup and SFL World Championship will be pay-per-view online
Capcom says it’s “reviewing pricing” after fans complained about its decision to charge fans up to $40 to watch online streams of upcoming tournament finals.
It was announced during last month’s Tokyo Game Show that the finals of Capcom Cup 12 and the SFL World Championship would be streaming live via pay-per-view.
The announcement stated that fans who want to watch the tournament finals online will have to pay ¥4,000 ($27) to watch the Capcom Cup 12 Finals on March 14, 2026 and another ¥4,000 ($27) to watch the SFL World Championship on March 15, 2026. Alternatively, a bundle is available for ¥6,000 ($40) that allows them to watch both finals.
The announcement was met with backlash from Street Fighter fans, and Capcom has now posted a statement suggesting it will be reconsidering the situation before pay-per-view streaming tickets go on sale next month.
“At Tokyo Game Show on September 28th, we announced the introduction of pay-per-view live streaming for both events,” the statement on the official Capcom Fighters account on X reads. “We are reviewing pricing and related details. Updated information regarding the PPV broadcast, including final pricing and additional context, will be shared later this month.”
Starting October 10th at 2:00 AM PDT, fans can enter the lottery to purchase tickets to attend CAPCOM CUP 12 and the Street Fighter League: World Championship 2025 in person, both taking place at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
Details: https://t.co/OGXwEWbCyzAt Tokyo Game Show on…
— Capcom Fighters (@CapcomFighters) October 10, 2025
While this English-language account doesn’t specifically state that the fan reaction is responsible for the pricing review, the official Japanese Capcom eSports account on X posts a similar statement that does acknowledge the negative reception.
“We announced at Tokyo Game Show on September 28 that we would be charging a fee for live viewing of both tournaments,” the Japanese statement reads (via machine translation). “We have received a lot of feedback from fans and are reviewing the details. We are currently considering adjusting the price for paid live viewing.
“We plan to announce the pricing of live viewing tickets, as well as the background and intention behind this, in late October. We kindly ask for your patience until then. We appreciate your continued support of Capcom eSports events.”
Earlier this month Street Fighter 6 director Takayuki Nakayama revealed that he had no idea about the decision to charge players to watch the streams, and that he and producer Shuhei Matsumoto both found out about it while they were at Tokyo Game Show itself.
“Revenue targets and assigned tasks differ fundamentally by department,” Nakayama explained on X. “Even the development team was surprised by this announcement (at least Matsumoto and I were shocked at the venue). That said, since this matter occurred within the same company, we are currently discussing it. We apologize for any concern this may have caused.”
