Kakeru withdraws from Capcom Cup 12, retires from professional play
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Key points
- Kakeru has withdrawn from Capcom Cup 12 and will be replaced by AngryBird.
- He has also announced his retirement from esports.
- Kakeru won Capcom Cup 11 and took home $1 million.
On Oct. 23, 2025, Capcom released a statement revealing that Kakeru “Kakeru” Watanabe has withdrawn from Capcom Cup 12, Street Fighter 6’s highest prize money tournament. In a post on X, he explained that the withdrawal was due to a pre-existing neural dysfunction, which has also forced him to retire from playing the game professionally.
With Kakeru’s withdrawal being finalized, Amjad “AngryBird” Al-Shalabi will be replacing him at Capcom Cup 12.
Kakeru’s retirement blindsided the Street Fighter 6 community, but it was something that had been speculated on for quite some time now.
His statement, translated via Google Translate, addressed this, saying that it has been two months since he suspended his activities, which include streaming and competing in tournaments. He also said that since he is retiring from professional play, he will also be leaving Zeta Division by the end of the year and “will focus on recovering my health going forward.”
Regarding Street Fighter League, he will be replaced by Eisuke “Yamaguchi” Yamaguchi, also from Zeta Division.
Kakeru won Capcom Cup 11, where he took home $1 million over Chilean prodigy Derek “Blaz” Blaz. Since then, he has shown inconsistency in his performance, presumably due to his health condition.
