Riding the 2d fighting renaissance that Street Fighter 4 created, Street Fighter 5 will attempt to make the iconic franchise even further. But with Street Fighter 5's release last February, fans and reviewers criticized Street Fighter 5's lack of single player content. However, plans and improvements are on the way for Street Fighter 5 as producers Yoshinori Ono and Tomoaki Ayano have said.
Speaking to Japanese magazine Famitsu, the producers have confirmed that Capcom plans to suppot Street Fighter 5 through 2020. According to them they plan to continually support Street Fighter 5 to "solidify Street Fighter 5 as an eSports title."
eSports is a new rising market for video games with the like of Dota 2 and LoL leading the charge. Games participating in eSport events will be featured heavily raising the games popularity. It's no surprise that the producers for Street Fighter 5 have started to tap into this new market and the results have already begun to show. "I said in the beginning that we've seen a higher number of [tournament] entrants than we had in the Street Fighter 4 era, but we'd like to heighten that even further," said Ono.
Street Fighter 5 was released with criticisms to its lack of content. Despite the Street Fighter 5's improved graphics and fighting mechanics, the game was considered incomplete. Street Figther 5's lack of arcade mode, allowing players to choose any fighter and participate in random matches against the computer is notable. Arcade mode is an essential mode for all fighting games and Street Fighter 5's absence of it is similar to committing a mortal sin for fighting games.
Without a dedicated arcade mode, single players will have no other option to play Street Fighter 5 solo other than the story mode and survival mode which are still lacking in their regards. Street Fighter 5's story mode, although offers more narrative than past Street Fighters albeit in presented in hand drawn stills, consists of only two to four single round fights. Finishing every character's story mode will only take up to an hour for even the most novice of players. It's clear that Street Fighter 5's focus is on the multiplayer aspect rather than the single player.
Since then, Street Fighter 5 has steadily improved by adding new characters and updating the game through tweaks. With the producer's statements, we can expect more to come for Street Fighter 5 up until 2020.
If there's anything Capcom has learned from Street Fighter 4, its that they have shifted to a new business model for the franchise. With Street Fighter 5 being supported until 2020, fans can be assured that Street Fighter 5 is the only Street Fighter they need. Future expansions that cost $40 for Street Fighter 5 with words like EX, SUPER and ULTRA are now a thing of the past.