Street Fighter 5 Release Date and Update: Four New Characters to Be Unveiled in Worldwide Launch, Spring 2016

Street Fighter 5
Street Fighter 5 gets 1.02 patch DLC update.

Fans of the hugely-popular fighting video game Street Fighter, should expect four new characters once Japanese game developer Capcom finally unveils Street Fighter 5 in the spring of 2016 in a worldwide simultaneous launch. The video game will be available in PlayStation 4 and PC platforms.

Capcom has not yet provided additional information about the new characters, except that they have never appeared in any of the previous Street Fighter series. At launch, the game will include 16 fighters including the four new ones. Following the game's launch, several characters will be developed and added to the game via regular updates; these characters, among other post-launch content, will be able to be purchased via either of two in-game currency systems: "Zenny", purchased via real-world currency, or "Fight Money", earned through gameplay.

The current list of characters, include Birdie, Cammy, Chun-Li, Ken Masters, M. Bison, Charlie Nash, Necalli, and Ryu.

It is interesting to note that in the first gameplay trailer released by Capcom about Street Fighter 5 shows Ryu wearing the same outfit but in its most battered condition. Several of the characters appear to have aged with M. Bison sporting a white hair, Birdie is shown to have gained significant weight, and Ken Masters now has medium-length blonde hair with a topknot ponytail, similar to his appearance in the Alpha games, and wears a new main outfit.

Street Fighter to Have Simultaneous Global Launch

Meanwhile, Events Hub reported that the next installment of Street Fighter will be launch across the globe in the spring of 2016 with no region or country left behind. The confirmation was made by no less than Street Fighter producers Yoshinori Ono and Tomoaki Ayano who both attended the Hong Kong video games convention and presentation.

"We will have a simultaneous [Street Fighter 5] release all across the world. No region will be late, and everyone will be able to play at the same time," said Ayano.

"This is just a small expression of our gratitude to all of the people here in Hong Kong who've been supporting Street Fighter for so long," added Ono.

Capcom Suspends Street Fighter 5 Beta Indefinitely

In another report, Capcom has suspended the beta phase of Street Fighter 5 indefinitely after the initial beta testing encountered problems, particularly long minutes of loading, said Forex Report Daily.

Capcom said in a statement, "To all of the European and Asian players that felt like they were missing out on the beta since we limited it to North America on Friday and Saturday, we apologize for the inconvenience."

The game developer said they would resume beta phase of Street Fighter 5 until they have fixed all the bugs and make sure that players will have a positive experience.

"So for those in the Americas that feel disappointed that they were not able to experience their pre-order incentive, there will be plenty of opportunities prior to launch to experience the game," the company added.

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