At what is the fighting game equivalent of the Olympics, EVO 2015, Capcom has announced a bunch of new information about Street Fighter 5, including the character roster, details on patch updates and the in-game/premium currencies you can earn during your time throwing hadoukens.
Let’s deal with how Street Fighter V will deliver content as opposed to previous versions of Street Fighter. Capcom have made it very clear that the initial Street Fighter V disc is the only one you will ever need. No need to go out and buy Street Fighter V Hyper Turbo Championship Edition 2016, the initial release is the everything you need. Moreover, all balance and system adjustments will be available for free and all post-release content will be available to purchase just by earning the in-game currency which you get through playing online, doing Arcade Mode and so on.
This Street Fighter is much more modular than previous editions, allowing you to only have to pay for the characters you want to play and not having to go buy the latest edition just to do a Red Focus combo with your main. It allows a much greater freedom for players who are maybe on a budget and gives them the ability to just buy the characters that interest them, rather than forking out for ones they know they will never play.
Speaking of characters, Street Fighter V will launch with a roster of 16 characters, with there being 4 newcomers amongst this lineup. Again, any new characters added post release will be able to be purchased either via the in game currency or the premium variety. Capcom have also promised us that we will see a glimpse of one of these characters during EVO Top 8 of Ultra Street Fighter 4. From hints given by Ono on Twitter, it could be Vega the Masked Claw, based on the claw-like hit lines seen in the teaser images.
So, what are these two currencies I hear you ask? Well, the in-game currency is aptly called Fight Money, which can be earned just by playing Street Fighter V. You could probably likened it to IP from League of Legends, as it can be saved and go towards buying new characters that are released by Capcom. The premium currency is called Zenny and will give those eager players the moolah to obtain new fighters without having to grind Fight Money. Capcom has urged fans that it will be testing the economy out during later beta stages to ensure all characters are fairly priced so expect tweaks and changes in the future. I could imagine it could be like the aforementioned example of League of Legends, where simpler but maybe not as powerful characters are priced lower, while complex high tier characters are priced high.
There will be more information on these elements of Capcom’s strategy for Street Fighter V soon and you can check the blog post by Peter ‘Combofiend’ Rosas detailing all the changes right here if you want to know more. Remember to stay tuned to the EVO Top 8 of Ultra Street Fighter 4 for the new character reveal and expect more Street Fighter V news soon as the beta launches very soon.