EVO 2015: Street Fighter 5 will switch to in-game currency model over DLC

There's a full day's break for Street Fighter action at this year's Evolution Championship Series, so Capcom is taking this Saturday to hold a panel on the upcoming Street Fighter V. As expected, they came along with some new information.

Capcom reminded everyone that Street Fighter V would be coming out exclusively on PS4 and PC in Spring 2016. They reiterated that crossplatform play would be available, with a whole different netcode structure in place. That segued into the latest announcement, which involves making Street Fighter into a service. This means there will be no "Ultra" or "Turbo" of what have you in the future. That means Street Fighter V will be the only disc required. Capcom also noted that all future content could be earned by playing the game itself.

The game will feature 16 total characters, with four characters that are completely new to the franchise. Future characters will be added afterwards, with Capcom noting that they can be earned by playing the game. There will be no DLC charge for any of these characters, but rather Street Fighter V will run on "Fight Money." This currency can be earned in-game, but yes, it can be purchased for real money, for those that would rather not play the game for their content.

The topic then turned to some of the mechanical changes for Street Fighter V. Assistant producer Peter 'Combofiend' Rosas noted that the mechanics, including V Trigger, are being aimed at reducing the overall complexity and opening the door for newcomers. The team is aiming to make each character unique through the V Trigger system, which allows them to suit the mechanic to characters and not the other way around, as was the case with Street Fighter IV's 'Focus' system. It also reduces the idea of 'Shoto' clones, allowing Ryu, Ken, and similar fighters to truly differentiate themselves from one another.

As for Ultra Street Fighter IV, Capcom has pointed out that the game's input lag now matches the current Xbox 360 version, so future competitive events in Western regions will migrate to the PS4 version.

As for the next Street Fighter V character, that announcement is coming tomorrow night during the Ultra Street Fighter IV Evo Top 8.

While Street Fighter V is set to release next year, there are aspects of it that are subject to change. Much of that will be determined by feedback received from the beta, which is set to kick off later this month. Those looking to get into the beta can guarantee a spot by pre-ordering the game for either PS4 or PC.

Update: The full panel has been uploaded and can be seen in its entirety below.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?