Capcom is far from done with Street Fighter 6. As the franchise continues to sell more copies while maintaining a strong competitive esports scene, there’s no way they would suddenly pull the brakes on one of the best fighting game franchises in gaming.
Lately, however, it feels like Capcom is pushing its monetization too far. Fans and longtime members of the fighting game community have been vocal for months, criticizing the company for aggressive practices that they believe go against Street Fighter’s traditionally community-driven identity.
What was once a promising fighting game with healthy post-launch support now feels like a different game altogether. This raises the question of whether Capcom has shifted its focus toward profit at the expense of its once-loyal community.
Has Capcom Become Too Greedy?
2023 was a major year for Capcom. With Street Fighter 6 receiving rave reviews at launch, the company knew it had done an exceptional job revitalizing its iconic franchise. The Street Fighter series has always been a household name, and the latest entry further solidified its appeal, selling over 6 million copies. Since then, Capcom has recognized that its beloved fighting game is a proven money-making machine.
That success, however, may be exactly why Capcom is facing a wave of controversies after asking too much from its growing player base.
It all started when Street Fighter 6 featured Fighter Passes and plenty of cosmetics. Not everyone was too angry about this, as microtransactions and new character passes are now normalized in the gaming industry as a whole. Although some fans did complain online about Cammy and Chun-Li’s expensive swimsuit collection, many chose to overlook its ominous precedent due to the quality of these cosmetics.
The sexy skins and battle passes aren’t really the worst of Capcom’s greedy practices. It became too glaring when they decided to put a $40 paywall on the upcoming Capcom Cup 12 for Street Fighter 6. Imagine limiting access to the biggest fighting game tournament in the game’s history.
Fans are baffled, confused, and angry at Capcom’s bizarre decisions. Yet after all that fiasco and angry YouTube videos from everyone’s favorite FGC content creator, Capcom refused to back down, reaffirming their stance on the PPV format, one that can severely impact the game’s reach and exposure to its talented pool of contenders.
Recently, Street Fighter 6 has faced another wave of controversy within the community, as Capcom is charging $5 for new HUD cosmetic that harkens back to the classic titles. Fans were excited to customize their battles, hoping that it could be purchased with Drive Tickets, which are the game’s version of a free currency. But this is Capcom we are talking about. You can’t purchase the fancy new HUD without spending Fighter Coins (FC), which is the game’s premium currency that costs real money. To add salt to the wound, Capcom just dropped a barebones balance update that barely fixed some of the game’s overperforming heroes like Ryu.
There appears to be no end in sight to Capcom’s aggressive business strategies, as they are fully aware that some players will eat them up. Now, the Street Fighter 6 community is asking for boycotts, refusing to give Capcom a single dollar to prove a point. No one knows if this is effective or not, but it’s all they have as Capcom continues to tarnish its fighting game franchises with questionable choices.
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