Ed in Street Fighter 5 was designed to test simple inputs but what will that mean in Street Fighter 6?

For a time, it almost seemed like Capcom had completely forgotten that Ed was slated to be the next DLC character for Street Fighter 5 considering that they had begun teasing Akuma. Earlier this week, however, Capcom released a quick teaser that reminded us all that Ed was indeed supposed to be the next DLC combatant.

Despite being a Psycho Power user like M. Bison that was trained to fight by Balrog, Ed was a particularly unique fighter back when he was released in Street Fighter 5. Ed was designed to utilize simple inputs for his special moves. Only his Critical Art in that game actually had quarter-circle motions in them.

"What makes Ed especially unique is how players perform his special moves," said the Capcom Unity blog back then. "His special moves have simple inputs; they only require simultaneous button presses, repeatedly pressing a button, or holding down a button. Only Ed’s Critical Art is done by inputting a traditional motion."

This concept would eventually carry over to Falke's design, whose backstory was similar to that of Ed's. Falke's simple special inputs typically consisted of the user holding buttons for a duration before releasing them.

However, it turns out that Capcom had originally designed Ed in Street Fighter 5 to be the testing bed for Street Fighter 6's Modern Controls concept. At the very least, Ed's emphasis on simplistic special inputs is what would inspire Modern Controls.

Shortly after the release of Street Fighter 6 back in June 2023, Street Fighter 6 Director Takayuki Nakayama discussed the matter with WIRED.

"That was when we decided to make it possible to play all characters in Street Fighter 6 with the more simplified Modern controls." — Takayuki Nakayama

"During the development of Street Fighter 5, we created a new character named Ed to test our theory," said Nakayama of simplistic controls in Street Fighter. "We designed him to be able to perform special moves without the need for complicated directional inputs and button combinations, and we were able to confirm that the game works even when Ed exists among characters that require command inputs."

"That was when we decided to make it possible to play all characters in Street Fighter 6 with the more simplified Modern controls," continued Nakayama. "To maintain competitive balance, we test through multiple battles and adjust as needed."

Considering that simplistic controls were integrated into Ed's identity and playstyle in Street Fighter 5, what does that mean for his appearance in Street Fighter 6? As expected, the teaser itself provided no answers to this question.

It's entirely possible that Ed may have his specials accessed through more traditional inputs due to the existence of Modern Controls. The purpose behind Ed having simplistic inputs in the first place has seemingly been made redundant with the addition of this control scheme, though it's worth noting that Modern Controls could still potentially simplify his Super Art inputs as Ed's Critical Art in Street Fighter 5 used quarter-circle motions.

Considering that Ed also had no command normals in Street Fighter 5, one would have to wonder what would even be the point of utilizing Classic Controls for Ed in Street Fighter 6 if only Ed's Super Art inputs get affected. As a reminder, Modern Controls' damage penalty can be subverted entirely by performing the corresponding Classic Controls inputs.

Ultimately, we'll have to wait and see what kind of changes have been implemented into Ed's moveset during his transition from Street Fighter 5 to Street Fighter 6 to understand what's going on.