Street Fighter V releases next week (at last!) for PlayStation 4 and PC, and Capcom intends to keep people engaged with the game for an entire console generation – or what’s left of it, anyway. What does that mean, exactly? Essentially, you shouldn’t expect a potential Street Fighter VI to exist for a long, long time.
In an interview with MCV, brand manager for Capcom Brian Ayers said that you’ll only ever need the base game – physical or digital – to get the full Street Fighter V experience, and that the company hopes continued post-launch release will satisfy players for years to come.
We’ve been quite honest in saying that Street Fighter V – the disc or digital edition – is the only version that you’ll ever need. You’ll never have to buy or be forced to buy another iteration further down the line. What that means is you don’t split the player base. Everyone can always just buy that game and know that two, three years down the line and know they can jump back in whether they are just spectating or being a competitor.
We want Street Fighter V to last a console generation. That’s a very brave move from the business side of things. But that is how we are looking at the product as well. It’s not: ‘right, get it out, it’s the first six months and then it’s done’. We’re talking lifetime on this now in years rather than quarters, which I think is quite telling in itself.
Capcom have already confirmed previously that Street Fighter V will never receive additional Super or Ultra updates or re-releases to the base game; all future DLC will instead be made available digitally through purchase with an in-game currency called Fight Money or with real cash.
New stages, costumes and and even characters will be distributed this way. Capcom are also keen to stress that any future system of balancing adjustments will be made available free of charge.
Street Fighter V hits PlayStation 4 and PC February 16. Sorry, Xbox One owners – it’ll never be coming to Microsoft’s console.
