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Matt Dahlgren Q&A about the game (via Eventhubs):
*We spoke at length with Matt Dahlgren, the Director of Brand Marketing & eSports at Capcom, about the roster size of Street Fighter 5, and future development plans.
I asked Matt how big of a roster they’re aiming for at launch, and what fans should expect to see when the game drops in the spring of 2016.
“We’re not revealing the total roster count just yet,” said Dahlgren. "What we can say is that we’re putting a strong focus on making sure that every character put into the game is very unique and has their own individuality.
“We want to start off with a core roster which will be inviting to new players. When you start off with a gigantic roster right off the bat, it can be pretty daunting for new players to figure out where to start.”
**The roster selection process and future plans
**
Those familiar with Capcom’s history will realize they’re very consistent about providing support for their fighting games post-launch, but they still want to keep things tight with the initial character lineup for Street Fighter 5.
“This is a franchise we expect to support for many years to come, but we will start with a very strong core roster,” Dahlgren said.
“If you looked at how we handled Street Fighter 4, it was the dominant fighting game of that generation of consoles, we’re expecting the same from Street Fighter 5, so we are thinking long term,” he stated.
I asked Capcom what their roster selection process was like, and if they had any specific criteria they looked at when they had someone they wanted to include.
“We did a lot of research before choosing our roster, and it was one of the largest debates within our company,” mentioned Dahlgren.
"We did a poll that ranked all of the characters in order, and when we put through the roster, we had all of those spots in there so we know where things lined up.
“We did not just follow the poll rankings as law, there’s a lot of elements that come into play when creating a roster and gameplay styles, and it’s not necessarily our job to give fans exactly what they want — it’s our job to be innovative and give fans what they don’t even know they want yet,” he said.
**Style and tone, fresh takes on old faces, and brand new characters
**
As part of the roster selection process, Capcom wanted to ensure that every character has their own personality, and that they fit a tone and style as well.
“A good example for our tone is Birdie,” said Dahlgren. "I don’t think anyone really saw him coming, but we had this really cool character design — he’s practically a new character in himself — but he doesn’t take up one of the slots we have for brand new fighters.
"The way we’re handling our reveals, we started off first with the characters that are mainstays, Ryu and Chun-Li will be in every Street Fighter game.
“Then we went back with Nash and Birdie, to show that we can take these characters that haven’t been around for awhile, and we have a vision for them and can bring them to life in a new way,” he said.
It won’t just be rebooted characters from past Street Fighter games, though. You will see some fresh faces in the mix this time around.
“Very soon in the future, you will see brand new characters for the franchise,” noted Dahlgren.
Capcom said fans will know the entire roster before the game is released in the spring of 2016 as well, with a steady amount of reveals along the way.
“We do all of the major event circuits, so we’ll make sure, if you’re at a key event, there’s likely going to be some sort of character reveal, but it will very clear when the whole launch roster is announced,” Dahlgren stated.
Stages and story mode
One of our reader-submitted questions was if Capcom was planning to make unique stages for all of the characters, like they did in Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo.
"Every character won’t have a stage based on them, but we will be staying true to the Street Fighter franchise in bringing new locations throughout the globe to the game in the form of new stages, but there won’t be parity between characters and stages.
“If we had to do a stage for every single character, our character roster is going to be a lot smaller,” said Dahlgren.
With NetherRealm Studios games often being the gold standard most people hold up for single player experiences in fighting games, I asked Capcom if they had anything similar planned for SF5.
“We are paying attention to how everybody handles story related content, and we will be doing things differently this time around for Street Fighter 5, but we’ll be sharing details on that at a later date,” said Dahlgren.
As a follow up, I wondered if he could say where in the timeline SF5 takes place, but he said that’s something that will revealed when they start talking about story related content.
One disc is all you’ll ever need
In terms of how DLC is rolled out for Street Fighter 5, there will be a change from the previous entry in the franchise.
“We have paid attention to the way that we’ve managed things with Street Fighter 4, and we will be mixing things up this time around,” said Dahlgren.
“This is the only disc you’re ever going to need to own to get all of the content in the game, but we’ll be revealing details of how our post-launch content happens at a later date, but it will be good news,” he concluded.*
Match footage from BET Experience this weekend feat. Justin Wong, fl0e, Marw Teddy, Neo, Chris Tartarian, Filipin0man, and more.
Birdie appearances card posted
Capcom SF5 UK tour
However some places it will be ticketed and some of those places are already taken, so make sure you will be able to get into the venue before you make the journey.
Matt Dahlgren interview, Part 2 (via Eventhubs):
*Our next article from our interview with Capcom at E3 2015 focuses on the upcoming Street Fighter 5 beta test, and what the partnership with Sony will mean for the fighting game community.
I asked Capcom’s Matt Dahlgren how the development process is going with Street Fighter 5 so far.
“Graphically, we feel like we have the right style, so that’s pretty much there,” said Dahlgren. "We’re also very comfortable with the status of the game engine, and the variable system, and it has been showing very well here at E3.
“The next big challenge for us is going to be online play,” added Dahlgren.
With the online beta starting on July 23rd for PS4 users, it will be the first chance for many people to get their hands on the new characters and system mechanics, but Capcom has another goal in mind.
“The real purpose of doing these online beta tests is to make sure our online infrastructure is great by the time the game comes out,” stated Dahlgren.
“Street Fighter 5 is not a finished product, it’s still in beta, and there are probably going to be hiccups, it happens all of the time in game development,” he said.
“We need to collect this data now, to use this beta testing opportunity so that by the time our game comes out, we’re in a solid state.”
Capcom puts a heavy emphasis on feedback from the community, and actually mentioned that they check our website frequently to see what people are saying.
“We check EventHubs all of the time, we definitely value your opinions, and we need your support, to stick with us as we optimize our systems,” said Dahlgren.
I asked if they could share a few details about how things are shaping up in regards to network play, specially what they’re using for net code.
“We’re using a proprietary net code developed by Capcom called Kagemusha, we’ve been putting a lot of work and effort into it. We are using rollback technology — and expect it to be very good,” Dahlgren explained.
Sony’s involvement in fighting games
Some people had assumed that Sony’s involvement with Street Fighter 5 was mostly for marketing purposes, but additional statements had surfaced that they would also be helping out in other ways. I asked Capcom if they could provide a few more details about the partnership.
“Part of the reason we partnered up with Sony is, we share the same vision for the growth potential in the fighting game space,” Dahlgren stated.
“I’d say the key aspect is working with us on executing cross platform play, this is going to be the first time we’ve ever united our community into a centralized player base,” he added.
Capcom also said that Sony is intent on making the PlayStation 4 the home of fighting games, and that they’re committed to the genre.
“Capcom is currently focused on SF5, so Sony was the one that developed USF4 on PS4. There were some issues at launch, which is to be expected as we were working with a new development team, but they stuck with the product and were able to address players’ concerns very quickly,” Dahlgren said.
“After launch, they quickly worked with DisplayLag to help fix the input lag, and have been working with pro players to help get the quality up to tournament standard. They’re very committed to the scene, and they want to make sure they’re approaching this in the correct way — they want to do it right.”
Sony’s involvement doesn’t end there though, something near and dear to the FGC is out competitive scene, and Sony has plans to assist in that regard too.
“They’re also going to be helping us out with the Capcom Pro Tour, to help us grow over time,” said Dahlgren.
*
Matt Dahlgren interview, Part 3 (via Eventhubs):
*One of the questions that often surfaced from our readers is who would be handling the PC version of Street Fighter 5. As it turns out, Capcom is handling it themselves, as one of the things they’re stressing is parity between the two platforms.
“The PC version of SF5 is being developed internally,” said Capcom’s Matt Dahlgren.
“We have to have parity between the PC and PlayStation 4 version, for cross platform play to work, so they will be coming out simultaneously and developed by the same dev team,” he said.
Fans also wondered if they were plans for an arcade release of SF5, but Capcom’s answer was a succinct “No.”
I asked about the mature rating Street Fighter 5 received in a few places, but Capcom said it’s going to be a teen rating when it is released, although the game hadn’t been rated by the ESRB, yet.
“We’re not going to have Street Fighter as a mature franchise, it’s meant to be all encompassing and inviting to players of all types, so the mature rating was just an error,” noted Dahlgren.
Ranked mode, global leaderboards and a rematch option
For online play, I inquired if they were going to rework the player point and battle point system that was in Street Fighter 4.
Capcom said that yes, it would be changed this time around, but they would have new details to share about that very soon.
Going a bit further, I followed up by asking the team if the online leaderboards for SF5’s ranked modes would be global, or if they will be separate for the PC and PS4.
“They will be global, that’s part of the purpose of uniting the community, so there is a centralized playerbase, and we can have one unified ranking system,” stated Dahlgren.
Closing out the online mode questions, a request we’d heard about frequently was if there would be a rematch option when playing online with just two players.
“We’ve definitely heard that request, and it will be a discussion point within our company for sure,” Dahlgren said.
In a nut shell, if Capcom can get it done and there are no technical hurdles involved — it will get done.
**Capcom’s passion for fighting games and thoughts on the EventHubs community
**
One of the more illuminating moments of our interview was hearing Dahlgren speak about Capcom’s passion for fighting games, and how much the team cares deeply about their stewardship of the franchise.
Something that became readily apparent to me is that this isn’t just a job for their fighting game team, they are deeply invested and care tremendously about our scene, and the games they’re developing.
“We check out EventHubs all of the time, we read all of the comments,” said Dahlgren.
“It’s one of our primary news sources to see what the pulse is of the fighting game community,” he said. "If I could say one thing, it’s please try and work with us, we’re out here trying to forge a new pathway forward for fighting games.”
“We’re trying to put good opportunities together with the Capcom Pro Tour, and we definitely want to live up to your expectations, but try and help us be better, don’t try to tear us down,” he said.
Capcom mentioned there have been hurdles along the way, but wanted the fighting game community to know they’re in the thick of things with us.
“There are going to be bumps along the road, but we’re all in this together, and we want to forge the future of fighting games, so we’d really appreciate your support,” stated Dahlgren.*
Game play of Ken, can also see some win quotes, mention of classic costumes possibly coming down the pipeline and again confirmation that story will be handled differently.
Not sure of the source for the photo, but appears to be teasing a new character.
Photos from the panel. Screencaps c/o Swedish Chef, Dragonfave723, Neclord, DeOnde.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CKOdwkGUMAE-uXS.jpg:large
Street Fighter V panel @ EVO:
I’m going to post this here since most people still got questions about SFV beta plans:
beta outlines:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/07/07/street-fighter-v-ps4-beta-details-revealed/
**Beta redemption keys will be e-mailed from the retailer you pre-ordered at starting on 7/20 (Pacific time). Once you get your Beta key, you can input it immediately into PSN to download the Street Fighter V Beta client.
Users who pre-order digitally through PSN will not need to redeem a Beta key, but will need to manually download the Street Fighter V Beta client from the PSN store starting on 7/20 (Pacific time).**