If you’ve ever queued up for a casual Street Fighter 6 match and watched your opponent walk out with a retro Street Fighter 2 fit for Ryu or a sleek casual outfit for Chun-Li, you’ve probably wondered where to find those looks for your own roster. Customizing your main character to match your personal style is one of the most satisfying parts of the game, and none of the costumes give any competitive advantage, so you don’t have to worry about pay-to-win advantages ruining your matches. We’ve tested every unlock method available to break down exactly how to get different costumes in Street Fighter 6, no fluff, no outdated tricks, just working tips you can use as soon as you boot up the game.
How to Get Different Costumes in Street Fighter 6 For Free Via World Tour
World Tour mode, the game’s open-world story campaign, is the easiest way to unlock free alternate costumes for every base character on the SF6 roster without spending a cent. Each character you meet as a master in World Tour has a bond level that increases as you interact with them, complete their side quests, use their fighting style in battles, and give them gifts they love. Once you hit the maximum bond level with a master, you’ll automatically unlock their second base costume for use across all game modes, no extra steps required.
You don’t need to purchase any DLC to unlock every base character’s second costume, so if you’re on a budget, this is the best method to use. For example, Ryu loves high-protein snacks and martial arts manuals, so gifting him those items will raise his bond level twice as fast as random gifts you pick up around Metro City. If you’re having trouble finding specific gifts, you can buy most common preferred gifts from the item shop in Metro City’s downtown area for a small amount of in-game Zenny, which you earn from completing fights and side quests. I was able to unlock Luke’s second costume in just two hours of casual World Tour play by focusing only on his side quests and gifting him the sports drink items he loves, which was way faster than I expected.
Purchase Premium Costumes From the In-Game Shop
If you’re looking for more flashy, unique costumes that aren’t available as base unlocks, the in-game Fighter Coin shop is where you’ll find all of Capcom’s premium cosmetic drops. These include crossover collabs with other franchises, holiday themed outfits, retro costumes from older Street Fighter entries, and even high-fashion custom fits for fan favorite characters. You’ll need Fighter Coins to purchase these costumes, which you can buy directly with real money, or earn small amounts from seasonal battle pass free tiers and limited time event rewards.
Premium costumes are sold either as individual items for single characters, or as part of themed bundles that usually include 3 to 5 costumes for related characters, plus extra color palettes and emotes. Premium costumes never get removed from the shop permanently, so you don’t have to panic buy a collab costume the second it drops if you don’t have enough Fighter Coins saved up right now. It’s almost always cheaper to buy bundles instead of individual costumes if you want multiple outfits, as most bundles offer a 25% to 35% discount compared to buying each item separately. All premium costumes work across every game mode, so you can show off your new collab fit in ranked matches, casual lobbies, and the Battle Hub as soon as you purchase it.
Unlock Exclusive Costume Rewards Through Battle Passes and Limited Events
Capcom runs regular seasonal events and battle passes for SF6, which give you access to exclusive costumes you can’t get anywhere else, either for free or for a small battle pass purchase. Each season has a free and a premium battle pass track, both of which include cosmetic rewards as you level up by completing daily and weekly challenges. The free track usually includes at least one full costume for a rotating character, plus extra color palettes and emote rewards, while the premium track has 2 to 3 more exclusive costumes, plus bonus Fighter Coins that offset the cost of the pass.
Limited time events, like the annual Halloween, Christmas, and Street Fighter anniversary events, also have their own set of challenges that reward exclusive themed costumes when you complete them. Common challenges you’ll need to complete to earn these event costumes include:
Event-exclusive costumes are only available for the duration of the event, so if you see a spooky Halloween fit for Blanka or a festive Christmas outfit for Kimberly that you love, make sure to grind the required challenges before the event ends. You don’t have to buy the premium battle pass to get free costume rewards either, as the free track always has at least one full costume unlock per season for players who put in the time to level it up.
Tips to Unlock Costumes Faster Without Extra Spending
You don’t have to spend dozens of hours grinding or drop hundreds of dollars on Fighter Coins to build a costume collection you love, as long as you use a few simple tricks to speed up the unlock process. First, if you’re grinding bond levels in World Tour, make sure to equip the Bond Boost skill that you unlock early in the main story, which increases the amount of bond points you earn from every gift and quest by 50%, cutting your grind time almost in half. Prioritize raising bond levels for your main characters first, so you can unlock their alternate costumes before you spend time grinding for characters you rarely play in matches.
I used to waste rare gifts on random masters just to see what their preferred items were, but once I started focusing only on my main Ken, I unlocked his second costume in less than 3 hours of casual play, which was way faster than spreading my resources thin across every master. You can trade unwanted in-game items for gifts at the World Tour item shop, so don’t throw away random consumables and drops you get from fights, as they can be swapped for the exact preferred gifts your favorite master loves, saving you the Zenny you’d spend buying gifts directly. If you’re grinding for battle pass levels, focus on completing weekly challenges first, as they give 5 to 10 times more XP than daily challenges, so you can level up the pass much faster without playing for hours every day. You can also earn extra Fighter Coin fragments from weekly Battle Hub tournaments, which add up to full Fighter Coins over time, so you can save up for premium costumes without spending real money if you’re patient.
At the end of the day, customizing your character to fit your personal style is half the fun of playing Street Fighter 6, and there’s an unlock method that fits every playstyle and budget. If you love story modes and don’t mind a little casual grinding, World Tour gives you access to every base character’s second costume for free. If you want flashy collab fits and don’t mind spending a little money, the in-game shop has a huge range of premium costumes to choose from. If you love completing challenges, regular events and battle passes give you access to exclusive limited edition costumes you can’t get anywhere else. Now that you know how to get different costumes in Street Fighter 6, you can jump into your next match rocking a fit that makes you stand out from the crowd, no matter what mode you prefer to play.