Street Fighter 5 has just received its confirmed release date from Capcom. Consumers should start seeing the game arrive on Sony PlayStation 4 and PC on February 16, 2016, in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Unfortunately for Xbox players, SF5 is going to be a PlayStation and Windows exclusive.
Also, Sony has just come out with a recent Street Fighter V trailer that was released at the Paris Games Week conference. Notable classic characters that were featured in the trailer included Ryu, Chung-li, M. Bison, Birdie, Cammy, Ken, Vega, R. Mika, Karin and Zangief. Newer characters include Brazilian female fighter Laura, as well as Middle East-inspired dueler Shaheen. Near the end of the trailer, viewers were treated to a special demonstration of an old favorite character. This surprise came in the form of fire-breathing Dhalsim, who delivered the beat down on poor Zangief. The trailer can be enjoyed in its entirety on Sony's official YouTube channel.
The recent trailer seems to confirm an earlier leak reported on VG 24/7 regarding potential fighters. Alleged fighters included Urien, Alex, Guile, Dhalsim, Ibuki, Juri and Balrog. This information was apparently obtained by data-miners who hacked into the recent Street Fighter 5 beta. The publication posted a screenshot of the alleged leak that was first posted on the NeoGAF forum. A word of warning, not every information that is data-mined represents what will show up in the final release. Also, evidence can be easily faked, and that has happened in the past.
Still, some of the rumors have panned out. As of Tuesday, Dhalsim was confirmed. It is unclear whether the accurate prediction came more out of luck. Capcom confirmed that there will be 16 characters when the game is released. Afterwards, six more new characters will be offered as optional accessories that can be bought using SF5's in-game currency known as Fight Money. That is what has been revealed for now.
Earlier, Capcom concluded its Beta 2 testing. As a sign of appreciation to fans, the Japan-based firm unlocked characters from the first beta that included Nash, Bison, Chun-Li, Ryu, Birdie and Cammy. The company also cancelled a previously scheduled maintenance session to free up more time for players. As expected in any beta, unfortunate bugs were reported. Issues included ones that caused the online matchmaking function to slow down. Hopefully, this problem will be addressed as matchmaking is critical in facilitating cross-platform gameplay.
Gamers now have the option to pre-order the video game title at any participating retailers including Amazon and GameStop.
