A fighting-game is much more than just its competitive side.
I understand why Capcom chose to design Street Fighter V the way it did. They saw the success of League of Legends and wanted to replicate it with a fighting-game. The main reason it has not blown up like League of Legends, however, is that unlike League of Legends, Street Fighter V is not free-to-play. I'm not saying that a free-to-play model would have guaranteed Street Fighter V astronomical success, just like League of Legends, but I'm saying that it would have garnered Street Fighter V more success than it currently has achieved.
It's really unfortunate how stubborn Capcom is regarding its pricing, and they almost have to be. It's a paradox. They promised something from the beginning, and by selling the game for money from the beginning, they think that they can't suddenly make it free-to-play, because that would upset their existing fans. It might upset many fans, but I think they should abandon the paid model and go to free-to-play as soon as possible. They should offer exclusive badges or whatever to people who paid for the game, and from here on, they should offer the game for free. Perhaps Ryu and one stage is free-to-play and other characters must be purchased.
Why is Capcom in this predicament to begin with? This is what happens when a company focuses only on the competitive aspect of a game, make it a paid game, and expect astronomical sales. It just won't happen. The competitive side of a one-on-one fighting-game will always be more niche than the casual side - people want to play a game with a basic ending for each fighter, which this game did not have until Arcade Edition.
Fighting-games are much more than its competitive side. They started out as one-on-one fighting-games in the arcades, but that's not good enough anymore. People are less likely to want to play people one-on-one online, than say, for example, a team-based shooter or MOBA. It's scarier and lonelier. You cannot focus on just the niche audience that likes grinding online.
Fighting-games' characters are meticulously designed, from their backstories, vital details, and their looks themselves. Instead of throwing these facts to the manual or an artbook, developers should embrace these things so that these characters are not just archetypes of gameplay, but attractive symbols of personality. Why does Smash Bros. do so well? The main reason is that the characters in it are well-defined, recognizable, and have followable histories through other games. People buy Smash for its gameplay of course, but also its rich character-cast. Why did Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite bomb? It did not have enough of the cool characters that players grew to know and love.
Let us embrace fighting-games as a whole, and not just focus on just one of its components.
It's really unfortunate how stubborn Capcom is regarding its pricing, and they almost have to be. It's a paradox. They promised something from the beginning, and by selling the game for money from the beginning, they think that they can't suddenly make it free-to-play, because that would upset their existing fans. It might upset many fans, but I think they should abandon the paid model and go to free-to-play as soon as possible. They should offer exclusive badges or whatever to people who paid for the game, and from here on, they should offer the game for free. Perhaps Ryu and one stage is free-to-play and other characters must be purchased.
Why is Capcom in this predicament to begin with? This is what happens when a company focuses only on the competitive aspect of a game, make it a paid game, and expect astronomical sales. It just won't happen. The competitive side of a one-on-one fighting-game will always be more niche than the casual side - people want to play a game with a basic ending for each fighter, which this game did not have until Arcade Edition.
Fighting-games are much more than its competitive side. They started out as one-on-one fighting-games in the arcades, but that's not good enough anymore. People are less likely to want to play people one-on-one online, than say, for example, a team-based shooter or MOBA. It's scarier and lonelier. You cannot focus on just the niche audience that likes grinding online.
Fighting-games' characters are meticulously designed, from their backstories, vital details, and their looks themselves. Instead of throwing these facts to the manual or an artbook, developers should embrace these things so that these characters are not just archetypes of gameplay, but attractive symbols of personality. Why does Smash Bros. do so well? The main reason is that the characters in it are well-defined, recognizable, and have followable histories through other games. People buy Smash for its gameplay of course, but also its rich character-cast. Why did Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite bomb? It did not have enough of the cool characters that players grew to know and love.
Let us embrace fighting-games as a whole, and not just focus on just one of its components.
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