14 DAY TRIAL // A few new details about the upcoming Street Fighter V fighting game have appeared online, in the form of a statement from developer Capcom, saying that it won't be free-to-play, and a release date pinned onto it by Amazon for March 31, 2016, although it's quite likely a placeholder.
Street Fighter V is the latest entry in the long running franchise from Capcom, as the Japanese publisher revealed the upcoming title earlier this month. Quite a few details were shared at that time, including the fact that the game was going to support cross-platform multiplayer across its two intended versions, for the PC and PS4, thanks to a partnership between Capcom and Sony.
The game got a few official gameplay videos in recent weeks, with even a live demonstration taking place at the Capcom Cup eSports tournament over the weekend. After receiving a teaser trailer that hinted at the return of character Charlie Nash, the title has now got a few more details.
Street Fighter V won't be free-to-play
First up, there's an official statement from Capcom's Yoshinori Ono, the producer of the upcoming Street Fighter V, who tells Famitsu, via Twitter, that the new title will be a regular game, not a free-to-play one.
"Let me set this straight: Street Fighter V is a packaged game," Ono emphasizes. "Not [free-to-play]."
Capcom already has a major release going free-to-play, in the form of PS4 exclusive Deep Down, so it wouldn't have been a surprise to hear that Street Fighter V was also going on the same road, potentially to attract more people outside of the franchise's established fan base.
Street Fighter V could launch in early 2016
Besides the confirmation that the title will have a retail price, a report appeared after large retailer Amazon pinned a March 31, 2016 release date onto Street Fighter V.
While it's quite likely that the date is a placeholder, seeing as how it's the end of a fiscal quarter, it might hint that Capcom wants to roll out the brand new fighting game in early 2016, possibly to avoid the cluster of big games that launch during the fall and winter holiday seasons.
It's also possible that the Japanese company saw how criticized games with glitches and issues have been in recent months and wants to allocate enough time to polish the fighting game.
As of yet, Capcom itself hasn't talked about the potential release date of Street Fighter V, only confirming that it will debut for PC and PS4.
