The old Street Fighter 6 was announced last night, and I can’t stop watching the short trailer that launches the title. Ryu’s new model looks impressive, and wow, what a generous guy he is. He’s becoming a thick, square, sweaty muscle. On the other hand, Luke looks completely different from his recent SFV debut, sporting a much more realistic hairstyle and sinewy arms that make John Cena jealous. We have almost no information about the game so far, but that shouldn’t stop us from thinking about the possibility of what could happen with SF6 or what we want the next big chapter of the game to be. story series.
Capcom is no stranger to live-serve games, and they’re no shortage of experience with seasonal content, either. Street Fighter V has a lot going for it, with four new character seasons, new outfits and levels. New bundles created to sell content for major tournaments like Evo or Capcom Pro Tour, will add even more cosmetics to the game. For all intents and purposes, Street Fighter has been running as a free-to-play game for years, and I’d love to see the series lean more toward that model, at least for this upcoming entry.
In many ways, Street Fighter V is like a beta test for a future free-to-play system. Capcom has implemented ways for players to purchase new characters or cosmetics with real money, or choose to earn Battle Coins by playing different modes in the game, which can be spent on similar items. Other skins have been split up in Side Battles, where you earn weekly “outfit shards” to build a cool Capcom co-op skin. This actually sent me back to SFV a few times so I could get Rashid’s awesome Air Man suit or Kage’s Asura’s Wrath suit. Unfortunately, missing a week on something will cost you an incomplete cosmetic that can’t be earned until the event happens again. It’s not a perfect system, with Fight Money being a big money maker, but it laid the groundwork for what could happen if SF6 were released for free.
What will be revolutionary for the SF6 is a combat pass system. I already know. Not every game needs to pass the battle. But making one here will do huge things for the game. First, it will boost player retention, giving people a reason to return to the game over time to climb that personal ladder. Players seem to leave the fighting game pretty quickly, but encouraging sticking with it and giving rewards like customizations, unlockable characters, or new music to play during combat can be a good way to go. to keep people playing the game. Like Dota 2’s The International, a portion of the proceeds from matches can and will go into a pool for the Capcom Pro Tour or support a variety of local tournaments around the world, giving players a reason to strive to become more skilled.
Street Fighter is a pretty big name in the video game space, but if you look at the sales numbers for its most recent entry (sold around 6 million copies on PS4 and PC), it falls far short of other titles. games like Mortal Kombat 11 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. If successful, a free model backed by selling cosmetics and getting through the battle could give Capcom a recurring source of income, allowing for more content and characters to be created, and all of them. We all know that’s what will really push the company to support the game in the long term.
On the other hand, shipping a game complete with arcade mode on day one, engaging story mode, online training and functionality with reliable netcode (preferably restore) will also go a long way. long way to the top of SFV sales. Games like MK11 prove that fighting games can still sell as a full-priced premium product. Perhaps now is the time for Capcom to ditch the traditional sales model and innovate in a way that larger fighting games rarely do. No matter which path Capcom decides to take with the new entry to the Street Fighter series, I hope it’s fun to play and draws more eyes on the fighting game scene. I believe we are on the verge of a very exciting time for fighting games, and like its predecessors, SF6 could easily become the focal point of the genre for the new generation. this.
What do you want in Street Fighter 6? We have a Readers discuss just because of that question. Go there to talk to the Game Informer community!
