Goodnight, sweet Parry Prince. It’s true, Capcom Cup 2025 champion Kakeru has officially announced his retirement from active competition.
The situation surrounding Kakeru’s health has been a topic of discussion since he pulled out of the Esports World Cup earlier this year in August. Kakeru was one of the favorites to win the entire EWC after a dominating performance at the Capcom Cup that he had won earlier in the year as well as a strong second place finish at EVO just after that, so it was a surprise when it was announced that he lost via disqualification as he had to pull out of the tournament.
Kakeru’s condition had periods of ups and downs, and we would occasionally receive updates on how he felt playing the game, as well as available Youtube replays chronicling his piloting of the latest Street Fighter 6 DLC character Crimson Viper into Legend rank and becoming the #1 ranked Viper player, at least for a while.
But that’s all for naught, as it appears his short performance in the Esports World Cup will be his last professional appearance in the fighting game community. With Kakeru’s retirement as well as the disappearance of UMA, the Capcom Cup winner from 2024, it appears we’ll be heading into Capcom Cup 2026 without any defending champions for Street Fighter 6; an ominous tale.
Still, Kakeru’s professional career burned bright. Kakeru almost single-handedly represented the Street Fighter 6 newcomer JP on the professional scene, and was certainly the biggest contributing factor to players discovering that JP was one of the best characters in the game. His dominant performances across Capcom Cup, as well as the Gamers8 tournament have made him the highest earning performer in fighting game history, clocking in at an insane $1,475,208 earned throughout his career, more than enough to retire on, and the FGC celebrates the Perfect Parry Prince and his storied career and wishes him a speedy recovery.