Fans will now have more reason to get invested in the Street Fighter V brawler game. This came after Capcom confirmed that its plan for the title cover as far as 2020 and beyond.
Street Fighter Support Until 2020
Yoshinori Ono and Tomoaki Ayano, the game's producers, have discussed Street Fighter at length in an interview with Famitsu, a Japanese video game magazine.
They pointed out that the game has an evolutionary track and is capable of adding elements as it goes along.
"It's not just a 1-2 year thing," Ono stressed. "We're looking pretty far ahead... We've planned out as far as 2020 or so."
Capcom's eSports Strategy
The length of the projected support and development for Street Fighter V can be attributed to Capcom's increasing interest on professional gaming. The company seems bent on establishing a foothold in this arena and it is hedging its bets by focusing on Street Fighter although some titles are said to be in the pipeline as well.
Capcom's eSports strategy anticipates a day when gaming becomes a popular spectacle. As the bulk of the company's resources are funneled to Street Fighter V's development, it expects an explosion of gamer base, which includes a segment of players that Capcom sees as more involved both as participants and as spectators of big tournaments that the company is planning to stage.
"The more people participate, the bigger tournaments we can host, and the more people are going to watch them, which is directly connected with our sales, and that's going to decide the future," Ono explained.
Street Fighter Teasers
Capcom has been releasing bits and pieces of what is to come for Street Fighter V. During the conclusion of the Red Bull Battle Grounds, for example, Akuma was teased as the next character joining the party by December. Street Fighter gamers probably know him as the demon god first seen in Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
Some in-game changes are also being implemented at this stage. Capcom decided to remove Street Fighter V's latest stage called Skies of Honor in the upcoming Capcom Cup 2016 and the CPT 2017 season. The company revealed that it is too distracting for competitive gameplay. Akuma's looming entry and a brand-new stage, which is reportedly in the pipeline, are being used to stir more interest.
The Capcom Cup 2016 will be staged on Dec. 3 as part of Sony's PlayStation Experience event. Top Street Fighter V players will be slugging it out to get a slice of more than $350,000 prize. Observers are also expecting Capcom to issue some form of announcement on what's in store for Street Fighter V players next year.
