Old Idea: Super Street Fighter IV. Better Idea: League of Legends

Seven months after its console release, Street Fighter IV as we know it is already dead. At least, that’s what publisher/developer Capcom’s leading everyone to believe. Super Street Fighter IV is set to arrive next spring and will place the original’s teeth on the nearest curb and..well, you know what happens next. Unfortunate saps without the new version are left with the bloody and broken pieces of a title once brimming with bright and glittery Edward-Cullen-in-the-sunlight potential (so dreamy!). It’s the sad story of a title continually loved by many, but only briefly by its own creator.

A week after release, two million units of SFIV hit shelves worldwide. Since then, a console title price drop and pc digital download availability probably helped sell an additional million or two, so let’s add another couple of strikes to the tally. As a “thank you” to the millions of gamers who slapped down their recessionary dollars for the product,  the company severed communication and released only one major patch – adding in Championship mode, replays, and a few bug fixes. Compared to Bungie, who provide frequent patches to the Halo titles and run a weekly community-focused blog, Capcom’s continual lack of action tarnishes the legendary company’s name. “Dated” is now the best word to describe the house that spawned Mega Man and Resident Evil.

It didn’t have to be this way. If only they could just…change.

Brick-and-mortar distribution once dictated title modifications, additions, and subtractions be made through reissues at market. “Champion Edition,” “Turbo,” “Super Turbo” – read the subtitles of Street Fighter II’s many releases. There were more, too, and full price was demanded for each. And we paid it. Each and every time. But this isn’t 1993.

Capcom needs to let go. It’s holding on to a business model with a comparatively small and limited financial potential. Worse yet, the handling of said model does little to strengthen the confidence a consumer may have in this supplier. The company needs to evolve, and the best blueprint to follow lies in a free-to-play title available only on the PC.

Read the rest at IPR's Multimedia blog.