One of the most important parts of a fighting game is it’s online. The gameplay, the mechanics, and even the characters would mean nothing if you can’t actually enjoy playing with other people across the world. Some of the best fighting games have had mediocre online, and have fallen into obscurity as a result. Good online can help bring a game into prominence and with the release of Street Fighter 6, many people are wondering if its online is up to snuff and will implement a mechanic called rollback netcode.
What is Rollback Netcode?
Rollback netcode is still a relatively new fixture in fighting games. First introduced in 2008, the idea was simple. Essentially, the game predicts the player’s inputs before they make them. If the player follows that prediction, there is no delay. If the player doesn’t, then the game quickly corrects it with a slight stutter. While many may doubt the idea of the game predicting a player’s move, it actually works really well. In an interview, one of the lead developers on Killer Instinct, Adam “Keits” Heart, spoke at length about rollback netcode.
Keits brought up how if the game doesn’t get the opponent’s inputs, they will attempt to predict what they will do next. “If they’re holding forward, it’s a pretty safe assumption that they’re probably going to continue holding forward.” The game repeats the last input that the player puts in, and if they deviate, the game will correct it by rewinding to a previous game state. It will be like nothing happened.
Rollback netcode has been implemented in several games across the last ten years. From Killer Instinct to Guilty Gear Strive, every fighting game nowadays has to have it or it will fall into obscurity. Even older games have gotten rollback after the fact, such as Guilty Gear Rev 2 and Dragon Ball FighterZ. So the question is: does Street Fighter 6 feature rollback netcode?
Rollback Netcode in Street Fighter 6
In a word: yes. Early on in Street Fighter 6‘s development, Capcom officially confirmed that the game would feature the mechanic. In subsequent betas, they’ve tested the online at length, and many have reported little to no issues with the game’s connectivity.
Street Fighter 6 won’t be the only fighting game this year to have rollback. Tekken 8 was also recently confirmed to feature rollback netcode. This is incredibly good news. It means that you can enter Street Fighter 6‘s online, and even if you’re playing with people from across the world, it feels like you’re playing with someone right next to you. This certainly helps Capcom and is likely part of the reason why Street Fighter 6 has been getting rave reviews. Now you can enter the battle hub without having to worry about losing connection.
Stay tuned to Final Weapon for more guides on Street Fighter 6!
