Another random Thursday, another Street Fighter trailer people have been waiting for for months dropped without any preamble. This time we’ve got a trailer for a beloved Street Fighter III: Third Strike character and a despised Ultra Street Fighter 4 character, Elena.
This is just a World Tour preview, mind you. Like all other World Tour previews we aren’t really given any indication as to what her gameplay looks like, mainly just a hint at what her in-game animations and stage will look like. The question on everyone’s mind is whether or not Elena will have her “Healing” super that was made infamous in Ultra Street Fighter 4 and it looks like you’ll all have to wait until June 5th to get a straight answer there.
Yes that’s correct, June 5th is her release date. For those of you who don’t remember, Elena was originally promised to release during the spring of 2025. and while I’m not up to date on when seasons change, I’m pretty sure June is really really pushing that summer border so that’s not a good sign. Notable here is that EVO Japan, the biggest upcoming tournament right now, is happening in May meaning that we’ll likely get an Elena gameplay trailer then, and then wait another month for her actual release.
The bright spot here is that Elena will likely bring Season 3 with her, and the EVO Japan announcement might bring the Season 3 DLC lineup too. Season 3 is a pivotal point for Street Fighter 6, in a point in time where the other fighting games on the market, both current and soon-to-be-released, are floundering in the public eye a big change for Season 3 could do wonders for Street Fighter 6’s reputation in the wake of their competitors flopping. Maybe this release date push back is an indication that they’re working over the patch again to make sure it’s in tip top condition, but the more obvious and cynical answer is that they intentionally pushed Elena’s release date back so she releases on the same day as the Nintendo Switch 2 port of Street Fighter 6.
