Funny, there was a time in the mid-90's, where after seeing God only knows how many Turbo, Championship, Hyper, and whatever other editions, we weren't quite sure if Capcom would ever get around to making a third game, and all these years later, here we are talking about plans for a fifth.
Speaking with 4Gamer, SF series producer Yoshinori Ono said he has no intention of ending the main series with the fourth game, as well he shouldn't, particularly with plans for an addition on the way, complete with a brand new character in Ultra Street Fighter IV. However, with the current console generation nearing the end of its lifespan, Ono will have to look towards developing for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 to keep the series alive. The only problem is that development tends to be a tad bit pricey.
"Realistically speaking, developing a title for next-gen consoles requires a huge amount of staff members and a large sum of money," Ono said. "The issue of money also applies to everyone else, as it'll be required to invest in a new console, game and arcade stick."
As such, Ono is considering of going the same route as PlayStation 3's Tekken Revolution and Microsoft's upcoming Xbox One exclusive Killer Instinct, and introducing a free-to-play version of Street Fighter. He's been keeping his eye on Revolution to see if it's the free-to-play model is one he'd like to follow at some point in the future.
"If you look at fighting games as a competitive sport, one might say the more players, the better," he said. "Going free-to-play lowers the hurdle of needing money to start, which I believe is one the ideal parts about it."
"On the other hand, knowing whether a company can guarantee [recovering] the development cost is something to which I don't currently see an answer. So, I'd like to think about it a little more after seeing how well Harada [Tekken producer] and Hayashi [Dead or Alive producer] handle it."
Capcom is currently working on the Ultra Street Fighter 4 update, which will three Final Fight favorites, the long legged Elena, and one brand new character.
