Street Fighter 5's £20 Capcom Pro Tour DLC isn't going down well
A portion of proceeds go to prize pool, but angry players say rip-off.
Over the weekend, amid the frenzy of the Evo 2016 fighting game tournament, Capcom announced and released an add-on for Street Fighter 5 that went down like a lead balloon with players.
Street Fighter 5's "CPT Premier Package" includes three new costumes (one for Chun-Li, one for Cammy and one for a "mystery character"), the new Ring of Destiny stage, and 22 exclusive colours and special titles, all for £19.99.
Now, despite Capcom saying that "a portion" of all proceeds go to the Capcom Cup 2016 prize pool, most Street Fighter 5 players criticised the DLC for being overpriced.
The reaction was fuelled by a sentiment established when Street Fighter 5 came out in February 2016: that despite the core gameplay being fantastic, there simply wasn't enough of a game there to justify full price.
It's important to note that Capcom has added content to the game since release. For example, a big free update recently added a dumb but fun story mode. But at a time when Street Fighter 5 still lacks an arcade mode of any kind and you have to soldier through a soul-destroying survival mode just to unlock character colours, the release of a £20 DLC add-on that most believe should be free was always going to ruffle feathers.
I've seen negative comments on the established fighting game websites, in YouTube comments and on Capcom's own blog. The reaction's getting a tad nasty, too.
The pricing issue gets worse when you see the individual prices for what's in this CPT Premier Package. The Capcom Pro Tour Stage, for example, costs $9.99. $10 for a fighting game stage!
And those costumes? $5.99 a pop! This is for a costume, remember. Not a DLC character.
It all amounts to a sense that Capcom's perhaps been a bit misguided in its DLC pricing.
In a post on Capcom Unity, the company said the Capcom Pro Tour-themed content for Street Fighter 5 will only be available for a limited time, and will be removed near the end of November prior to the Capcom Cup. It said it'll let the community know what improvements this means for the Pro Tour and the Capcom Cup.
Given how much the DLC costs, hopefully it'll mean a lot.
