Street Fighter V

Street Fighter V took a different path from its predecessors in 2016 – Capcom decided for the first time to skip a competing console and release the game as a console exclusive for PlayStation 4 alongside the PC version, citing a wish to unify the player base of a single platform instead of splitting it between Xbox and PlayStation. The choice of a smaller number of characters in the initial roster, simpler single-player content compared to previous entries, and the need to purchase a large portion of the story and arcade content through later updates sparked fairly sharp criticism from both players and journalists at the time.

In terms of gameplay, the fifth entry shifted toward a slower, more strategic pace than the fast-paced fourth entry – the new V-Skills and V-Triggers system gave every character unique tools tailored to their playstyle, increasing the variety of matches, but initially also requiring players to learn each character almost from scratch. Capcom openly positioned the game primarily as one built for the growing esports scene, with support for tournament organizations and a priority on a balanced competitive experience. The weaker single-player content was gradually made up for in the following years through a story mode and an extensive list of purchasable fighters, thanks to which the originally controversial launch eventually turned into a game with long-term longevity and an active community.

The seasonal model of expanding content through gradually added fighters and cosmetic items, which Street Fighter V introduced, also became a model for many other fighting games that followed it. The decision to merge the console and PC player base into a single network base proved, in hindsight, to be a wise one especially for the smaller but stable community around professional tournaments, where players from both platforms could compete against each other regardless of which version of the game they owned.

Why play it: Street Fighter V is a good choice especially for players interested in competitive, esports-oriented fights on PlayStation who will appreciate the elaborate V-Skills system, but they should expect that the full experience only arrived with later updates, not right at launch.