Skip to main content

Capcom: Street Fighter V ‘needed more polish’ before launch

capcom admits street fighter v needed more polish sfvtime header
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Capcom CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto announced that the company will allow more development time for future video game releases following the troubled launch of Street Fighter V earlier this year.

Capcom detailed its shift in strategy in a financial results briefing this week, according to an MCV report. The company will now focus on “strengthening our brands” in the coming year.

Tsujimoto specifically cited Street Fighter V while detailing potential areas of improvement for the coming financial quarter. Capcom’s CEO acknowledged the game’s much-criticized lack of content at launch, and called out server issues as being particularly damaging to the final product.

“Some aspects of Street Fighter V needed more polish, such as the lack of content and server issues at launch,” Tsujimoto admitted. “Accordingly, we feel it’s better to give a little more time to development than before, and have made slight adjustments to our portfolio.”

Tsujimoto continued: “Profits may take one or two years longer to stack up than initially expected, however we will be firmly strengthening our brands. That being said, even looking at Capcom’s growth exclusively, we expect at the very least growth in excess of 10% to continue.”

Capcom previously announced that Street Fighter V sold 1.2 million copies across the PlayStation 4 and PC platforms to date, falling short of initial company projections that pegged launch sales in excess of 2 million.

Street Fighter V launched with a notable dearth of expected features like a single-player arcade mode. The game also lacked significant tutorial and training features prior to the release of a patch that added a collection of in-game challenges in March.

Street Fighter V also comes up short in terms of its roster, offering only 16 playable fighters at launch compared to Ultra Street Fighter IV‘s 44-character lineup. Patches released in the wake of the game’s debut added returning favorites Alex and Guile to Street Fighter V‘s roster, and more characters will enter the arena following future updates.

Editors' Recommendations

Danny Cowan
Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…
Street Fighter 6: release date, trailers, gameplay, and more
Chun-Li and Ryu fight in Street Fighter 6.

Street Fighter is officially returning with Street Fighter 6. Ryu, Chun-Li, and new and old friends will take center stage, along with a whole new look for the classic fighting game’s graphics. It’s good timing, too, as the Street Fighter franchise just turned 35 last year, and is ready for a big comeback (Street Fighter 5 launched more than six years ago in 2016).

Interested in learning more? Wondering if Street Fighter 6 will be coming to your gaming platform of choice? Capcom’s going to be dropping more info from now up until launch. In the meantime, here’s everything we know and what you can expect.
Release date

Read more
A free Street Fighter 6 demo is available now on PS5 and PS4
street fighter 6 demo sf6  battle damage 1 png jpgcopy

There is a little over a month to go until the launch of Capcom's highly anticipated fighting game Street Fighter 6, and we just received new information from a dedicated Street Fighter 6 Showcase hosted by Lil Wayne. The biggest announcement came at the end of the show, when Capcom revealed that the game is getting a demo today on PlayStation 4 and PS5.
Street Fighter 6 Showcase | 4.20.2023 | US English
During the presentation, producer Shuhei Matsumoto explained that this demo will allow players to create a character they can carry over to the full release. as well as experience the start of the World Tour and play some matches in Fighting Grounds. While the demo is a PlayStation exclusive right now, as it only came out on PS4 and PS5 today, it will arrive on PC and Xbox Series X on April 26.
While the demo was certainly the most notable thing to come from this Street Fighter 6 Showcase, several other things were revealed. At the start of the showcase, we got a new trailer highlighting the World Tour and Battle Hub modes. For Street Fighter 6's World Tour mode, we saw a new locale called Nayshall; for Battle Hub, we learned that players can fight in the center of the hub with their created characters. 

Then, game director Takayuki Nakayama talked more about World Tour mode, revealing that players start in Metro City, where they are coached by Luke. Players gain experience, level up, and learn skills to get more powerful. While there are a lot of fights to be had throughout World Tour's locations, players will also have to build friendships with Masters like Chun-Li to gain access to their specific moves. Players can fully customize their own characters moveset, but will also meet other characters not necessarily part of the main roster that were built from those same skills.
After a brief overview reminded us of what Battle Hub has to offer, Fighting Ground then took center stage. During this segment, Capcom revealed that fighters' outfits will get more beat up and worn down over time, sounds indicating certain move types and distance can be turned on to make the game more accessible, and there will be an offline-only AI-assisted gameplay style called Dynamic. We then saw Arcade Mode in action, where players can earn illustrations for each fighter and compete with others for the highest online ranking score.
Street Fighter 6 also features detailed fundamentals and player-specific tutorials, Team Battles, Extreme Battles with unique stage gimmicks, Ranked Matches, Casual Matches, and the ability to make custom rooms when playing online. Finally, Capcom teased what players can expect from Street Fighter 6 after its launch. Year 1 of support will include four new characters: Rashid (summer 2023), A.K.I. (autumn 2023), Ed (winter 2024), and Akuma (spring 2023). 
If you weren't already convinced to pick up this game, then this presentation probably had something that could win you over. Street Fighter 6 launches for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X on June 2. 

Read more
Everything announced at Capcom Spotlight: Resident Evil 4 demo, Exoprimal, and more
A group of players fights a T-Rex in Exoprimal.

If you're a Capcom fan, you're about to have a very good 2023. The publisher currently has some major plans for the first half of the year, with tentpole releases like Resident Evil 4 and Street Fighter 6 on the horizon. With so much in the works, it only makes sense that the company would want to hold its own Nintendo Direct-style livestream earlier than its typical June spot this year.

Capcom Spotlight | 3.9.2023 | US-English

Read more