View the High School Competition Rulebook for details.
Introduction and Purpose
These official rules of the PlayVS Scholastics Esports League apply to each of the teams who have registered and met the requirements for the 2025-2026 school year, as well as their head coach, assistant coaches, vice principals, athletic directors, starters, substitutes (collectively team members), and other members.
1. Game Rules
1.1 Game Account Connections
Players are required to create and connect the 10-digit user code of their primary Street Fighter 6 account to their PlayVS profile before competing in a match.
If necessary, teams competing in person may use only one (1) account from their team’s roster throughout the match, changing controllers between individual 1v1 games. The account being used in competition must be shared in match lobby chat by the match day point of contact.
Per section 6.2.7 Connected Accounts of the league’s Competition Rulebook,
teams must address missing game account connections before establishing a game of record. Reaching a game of record without confirming game accounts or addressing missing game account connections is not grounds for a match restart or loss.
1.2 Roster Requirements
Team members must be eligible to compete on behalf of their school as listed in section 2. Team Member Eligibility of the league's Competition Rulebook.
Each league page will list the number of players necessary to fill a team’s rosterand bench. No individual may simultaneously hold two or more roles as listed above. All players and coaches are expected to be present physically or virtually for all official PlayVS matches. The roster and bench must be finalized before the roster lock date, as listed in section 3.4 Roster Submission of the league’s Competition Rulebook.
1.3 Substitutions
Substitutions must be made before the start of the match by confirming competing players within the Match Assistant, and only the confirmed players may compete in the match. No substitutions are allowed once a game of record is established in the first series.
In the event Match Assistant is unavailable, rosters and substitutions must be confirmed before the start of game 1 in the first set, unless otherwise approved by a League Official and stated by a PlayVS Admin in Match Lobby Chat.
Players on the bench may be used for any match their team is competing in within their assigned league. Only the players shown on a team’s bench before the start of the match can be used as substitutes in an official PlayVS Match.
Once rosters have been confirmed, starting players are locked in for that match. If a player on the starting roster cannot compete in their series, a loss will be issued for that series. Contact PlayVS Support so a League Official can assist with updating the series so competition may continue.
1.4 Game of Record
A game of record (GOR) in Street Fighter 6 is established in the following conditions:
The game states “FIGHT” at the beginning of the first round.
Once GOR is established, game restarts will only be allowed under limited conditions as listed in section 7.4 Game Restart of the league’s Competition Rulebook.
1.5 Stoppage of Play
During any pause or stoppage, players may not leave the match area unless authorized by their coach. Coaches should communicate any disconnections or pauses inside PlayVS’ Match Lobby Chat.
Directed Pause
At any time and at their sole discretion, League Officials may order the pause of a match. Teams may complete the current game and finalize the results before pausing if necessary.
Player Pauses
By default, players are not able to pause an in-progress game. In the event of an equipment failure, or if an in-progress game is stopped, then the reporting player will forfeit the individual round.
Player Disconnection
In the event of a player disconnection, the disconnected player must indicate the reason for the disconnection in the match lobby chat within 10 minutes or risk loss of the set.
If the disconnected player can return within the 10-minute window, the game will be recreated as closely as possible to the state at which the disconnect occurred, including the same fighters. Once the game is reset, the match will continue.
If the disconnected player, or their coach for the team has not shared any updates in the Match Lobby Chat within the 10-minute window, notify PlayVS Support immediately for further assistance.
1.6 Equipment Failure/Controller Disconnect
In the event of an equipment failure that causes an in-progress game to be stopped, the offending player will forfeit the individual round. If an in-progress game is not halted, the player may work to reconnect. By default, equipment failure does not require a game restart.
1.7 Match Format
Match Format | Best-of-Five (Bo5) sets |
Set Format | Best-of-Three (Bo3) games (battles) |
Game Format | Best-of-Three (Bo3) rounds |
Settings |
|
Each team will compete in a Bo5 sets match, where each player will compete in a Bo3 game (battle). The winner of each battle will be determined by the player that wins two of three rounds within a single battle. If the in-game round timer expires before either player is knocked out, then the round will automatically award the win to the player with the higher remaining health.
Teams will select one of their starting players to compete in each set. For example:
Set 1 | Team A Player 1 | vs | Team B Player 1 |
Set 2 | Team A Player 2 | vs | Team B Player 2 |
Set 3 | Team A Player 3 | vs | Team B Player 3 |
Set 4 | Team A Player 1/2/3 | vs | Team B Player 1/2/3 |
*Set 5 | Team A Player 1/2/3 | vs | Team B Player 1/2/3 |
*The player competing in set 5 must not have competed in set 4.
Unless otherwise stated, this format applies to all phases within a PlayVS season.
All matches within the season will share the same match format as listed above, regardless of phase.
For a detailed breakdown of each phase available for the league, see section 5.2 Phase Details of the league’s Competition Rulebook.
1.8 Skins and Customizations
Teams must adhere to the following rules regarding character skins and customizations:
Character Skins/Cosmetics
All characters must be set to their default skins before the start of each match.
Alternate character skins or cosmetic variations are prohibited
Initial Warnings
The first time any player from a team accidentally uses a character with a skin equipped, the entire team will receive a warning.
Teams are allowed to request a restart if a skin was accidentally selected.
Requesting a restart must take place before a game of record is established to not receive a warning.
If a restart was requested before establishing a game of record, teams should back out and restart the game.
The restarted game must be played with the same character selection.
Matches played out to completion with skins will be counted as a Game of Record.
Repeat Violations
Each team will be allowed 1 warning for accidentally using a skin per match for their overall team.
After receiving 1 warning, repeated usage of skins may result in League Officials issuing a game loss.
2. Player Equipment
2.1 Equipment
Each player on the starting roster must have access to school-provided equipment or must be permitted by the school to provide their own equipment in the following categories:
PC or Compatible Gaming Console
Compatible controller, or Mouse and Keyboard (for PC)
Stable Internet Connection
Console only: Online Membership
Playstation +
Xbox Live
Nintendo Switch Online
Copy of Street Fighter 6 physical or digital
3. Match Process
3.1 Pre-Match Setup
Teams must adhere to section 6.2 Pre-Match Setup in the league’s Competition Rulebook as they prepare to join their match.
3.2 Match Setup
Teams will follow Street Fighter 6 Match Instructions for lobby creation setup and joining the game lobby.
Set and Game Setup
Sets during a PlayVS best-of match will be played consecutively during match day. Teams will confirm their starting roster for the match and then indicate which player is competing in set 1. For set 1, the player selections are blind and cannot see their opponent's first player selection.
For sets 2 and onward, the winning team from the previous set will indicate which of their remaining players will compete in the upcoming set. The losing team from the previous set will have a counter-pick when selecting players and indicate their competing player after the winning team has indicated their player for the set.
Should a match go to set 4, the rosters will be reset, and any of the players who competed in a previous set are eligible to be chosen to compete in set 4. The player counter-pick process will remain, and the losing team will have a counter-pick and select their competing player after the winning team.
Should a match go to set 5, teams can choose either of the two remaining players to compete in set 5. Again, the player counter-pick process will remain, and the losing team will have a counter-pick and select their competing player after the winning team.
If the PlayVS Match Assistant is unavailable, all setup information must be shared using Match Lobby Chat.
3.3 Match F.A.Q.
Spectating
In order to avoid giving any team an advantage, spectators should be removed from spectating unless both coaches have agreed to allow for a spectator by following section 7.7 Match Spectating from the league’s Competition Rulebook.
In-Game Content Updates
Street Fighter 6 is a live-service multiplayer game that may release new content patches with updated team rosters during the season.
Any Street Fighter 6 currently disabled in-game by CAPCOM will not be available for use during official PlayVS matches. All PlayVS matches will occur on the most up-to-date patch, and any fighter is eligible for use in PlayVS matches unless otherwise stated by League Officials.
4. Post-Match Process
4.1 Results
If the match is completed using the PlayVS Match Assistant tool, then in-game statistics and results will be recorded at each game's conclusion.
In the event that the PlayVS Match Assistant cannot be used, then statistics will not be tracked, and the match results will need to be submitted manually within 1 hour of match completion. Players should take screenshots of the match results and share those with their coaches.
In the event of an error, coaches must contact PlayVS directly.