Skip to main content

Long read: How TikTok's most intriguing geolocator makes a story out of a game

Where in the world is Josemonkey?

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Street Fighter 5 update tweaks Sakura's face

Not Ken's though.

Capcom has released a Street Fighter 5 update and, surprising fans, has tweaked Sakura's face.

Sakura's face as it appears on the Street Fighter 5 character select screen has been a point of contention ever since she was added to the fighting game in January 2018, with some criticising her "bug eyes" and "alien" look.

Watch on YouTube

The update changes Sakura's character select stance, and so we see her face from a slightly different angle and with different lighting. This makes all the difference, and her face on character select now doesn't have that bug-like alien look.

Sakura's new face from r/StreetFighter
They Changed Sakura's Select Screen Animations from r/StreetFighter

Fans are trying to work out exactly what Capcom has done here. Some reckon the change brings Sakura's character select model in-line with the model used in a match. Others aren't entirely sure the face has changed much at all, rather it looks different because of the changed character select animation, stance and lighting.

There's also an ongoing debate about which Sakura face looks "better". I'm not sure of the answer on this one, but what I do know for sure is that Ken's character select face remains monstrous.

Ken's reaction to Sakura getting a new face and character select pose from r/StreetFighter

The tweak to Sakura's match selection animation feels a little random, coming as it does so late in the life of Street Fighter 5. Why do this now? And why not do it to other characters? Only Capcom knows.

Today's Street Fighter 5 update, by the way, adds playable DLC characters Oro and Akira from Rival Schools.

Read this next