Last we heard, Ultra Street Fighter IV was set to arrive sometime in the "spring," but we've since learned that release has been pushed back a bit. Capcom announced today that players can expect the latest SF addition and its four new fighters this summer.
Players have the option of either upgrading their existing copies of Street Fighter IV, obviously a bit cheaper, or they can wait until a complete bundle hits retailers. Availability also depends on what platform you have.
Here's the breakdown:
- Players wanting to go digital for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 can do so in June. The upgrade will cost $14.99. PC players will have to be patient, as they won't have the option for an upgrade until August.
- August is the same month that the retail version happens to arrive, which will cost $39.99, and includes all the previously released costumes.
- Because PC players have to wait, their patience will be rewarded. Also in August, there will be a special deal on the digital bundle that offers all the costumes, priced lower than the retail version at $29.99.
It's a bit disappointing, but Capcom's logic behind the delay is sound. According to the explanation provided on Capcom Unity, it was "the only way that we could ensure that Ultra Street Fighter IV would be included in the largest fighting game tournament in the world," that tournament being EVO 2014.
Despite the recent launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Ultra's release is limited to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. It brings in former Capcom combatants Rolento, Hugo, Poison, and Elena.
However, there's also a fifth, supposedly brand new character, that, according to Capcom's Senior Product Manager, Matt Dahlgren, has "never been featured in a Street Figher game up until now." A recently released piece of concept art started the rumor that the fifth fighter's identity is Retsu, one of the combatants from the original Street Fighter, but this hasn't been confirmed.
Besides the new characters, players will also get six new stages, all of which featured in Street Fighter X Tekken: Cosmic Elevator, Mad Gear Hideout, Jurassic Era Research Facility, Blast Furnace, and Pitstop 109.
It also includes new combos, tweaks, and fixes a bevy of balancing issues.
