Capcom Apologizes For Street Fighter V’s Launch Woes

UPDATE

Are you glad Capcom made this statement about its past title? Are you glad they made key adjustments for its latest one? Let us know in the comments below!

ORIGINAL STORY

Nowadays, it’s sadly rather common to find titles that were launched prematurely. They’re launched thinking that “no one will mind the state that they’re in” and that they’ll simply “be fixed with patches later on. But back when Street Fighter V launched, things were much different. It was rare for a “big name franchise” to have a launch that made people question the developer, as gamers still had plenty of trust in them at the time. Yet, with this fighting title, almost everything about it was “off,” and Capcom should’ve known better than to try and do this franchise so dirty. The irony is that they’re finally truly apologizing for it eight years after its release.

So, what did the game do poorly to warrant such backlash? Simply put, unlike the previous entries, Street Fighter V had a very “bare bones” approach to its content. The roster did feature classic characters and new entries, but the overall roster size was the smallest the franchise had been since the beginning of the series! Yes, there were season passes that would add more characters over time, but that wasn’t something that fans wanted or desired. Past games had simply allowed them to have all the characters, or they could be unlocked naturally. Instead, Capcom took the monetization approach, which backfired on them initially.

Another flaw was the lack of modes. There was very little to do, and a true story mode didn’t come until later via a free DLC update! While the gameplay was still mostly tight and had new moves that stuck around, the overall presentation was severely lacking, and on its anniversary today, as noted by Rock Paper Shotgun, the team commented on what happened:

“From the beginning to the middle of the release, there were network issues, lack of content, etc. We are truly sorry for the content that did not meet the expectations of many of you.”

According to them, the team did some “self-reflection,” and that showed off in the game’s sixth entry, which launched last year:

“Above all, the most important point was that I was able to apply this reflection to [Street Fighter 6]. I once again feel that the past eight years have been spent together with everyone.”

Indeed, the newest entry was MUCH better received, had all the content that players could want right off the bat, and had a more robust roster that fans have been enjoying since launch. So, in the end, the lesson was learned.