STREET FIGHTER 6 SHOULD NOT BE F2P! Most Fighting Games Aren’t Ready!
VesperArcade
Views: 11129
Like: 623
Fighting games have small communities compared to most genres. A common idea people have to boost the player base is to introduce F2P. Street Fighter 6 is the next big entry into the series and I would like to discuss my thoughts on how making it free sounds amazing but wouldn’t be possible without creating a ton of issues.
#StreetFighter6 #SF6 #StreetFighter #Capcom
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18.06.2022
I kind of hate F2P games when it's long lasting franchises with a legacy. What if people want to play these games in the future and they shut the servers down? It's better when games are complete products imo. It's not always the case though such as games like Fortnite.
They could easily make sf6 free to play by just giving players like only 4 characters to pick from and online play only. Pay for the rest of the game.
Yeah f2p just aint compatible with sf
When the launch version of SFV came out and it was literally just the final beta but with the removal of some of the more fun combos, I knew something was very wrong with the development phillosohpy of 5.
Na dude, we broke
Compare SFV season 1 characters… compare SFV season 5 characters…
You understand why F2P doesn't work with fighting games.
Normalizing crossplay is a much easier way to maintain healthy playerbases
You hit the nail on the head regarding how this doesn't mean that more people will get hooked to the game and stay around.
Another negative effect of the F2P model is that I think a fighting game with that would ditch most singleplayer content altogether. Personally I'd rather have them giving you a more complete experience rather than going the F2P route.
capcom can't do a free to play that has loads of content and modes… um didn't we just have sfv which released with literally nothing and they still charged us $60 for it
The online priority right now…
-A single account for preventing smurfs
-Keyboard chat in lobby
-Mic chat in lobby
-Regional filters for matchmaking
-Rank filters for matchmaking
-Connection filters for matchmaking
-Cross-platform support
-Lobby timeout, for users being AFK as host to be automatically kicked out
-Host disconnecting not ending the match in progress
-Allowing multiple match simultaneously between the users in the lobby
-kicking players requires lobby users vote
-Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown match connection quality
Most of this video boils down to "It hasn't been done yet so it can't be done in the future" which is just not even true in the first place. We have examples of fighting games with great netcode and crossplay, we even have a couple that were F2P and have solid business models in Killer Instinct and Fantasy Strike.
Even if the rollback isn't perfect, SFV has crossplay and solid netcode overall on top of a fairly generous business model. It is not hard to just assume that SF6 would fix the easily fixed issues with SFV's netcode whilst retaining everything else
The point you made about labbing for hours in training is so true no matter the price casuals are not going to suddenly start doing that.
As much flack as doa gets it is probably the best version of f2p the genre can currently support. With doa6 they announced a f2p version at the start but it wouldn't come out day 1. So the hard-core players were more enticed to pay for it, having a version of the game that you can play for free and pay as you go for the content you want isn't a bad deal definitely better than just the $60 model and if they added the sfv option of earning characters that would be perfect.
"Street Fighter 6 Characters and Stages Should Be F2P!" VesperShade
With the amount of dlc characters in the last fighting games (sfv, mk11, etc) we pretty much are in a pay 2 win situation already, wich IMO is one of the biggest problems that a f2p fighting game could bring because obviously breaks the balance/fair state of the game for a competitive setting, the last game that respected this was UMVC3 because it only had 2 dlc chars while the other dlcs where entirely cosmetic..
A game being F2P gives an excuse for the devs to be more greedy. That's F2P Game 101 lol
another point: if sf6 does f2p you wont technically own it, and that's weird. it'll be a live service and thus virtually impossible to preserve in any meaningful capacity. like path 1.5 over the current one? tough shit, you cant play it if capcom doesnt generously allow you down version
Killer Instinct doesn't count because you have to buy the characters? Bro, Killer Instinct is the perfect way to do free to play. It's just not on Playstation.
Funny how the best counter-argument to your point simply DoEsN't CoUnT.
I agree with you Vesper. I'll just add that the cry for F2P seems like one of desperation, and I understand the sentiments. But it almost sounds like an admittance that fighting games will never have what it takes to be worth full price, and the developers will never figure out or be able to afford to make new engaging content, so we should just stop asking and make it a free bare-bones online versus mode only. And to me, that's sad.
I also think the argument "well fighting games were always a bare-bones arcade game" is also a straw man. Most games were pretty bare bones and only offered one or two modes to play back then. The problem is they didn't grow along with the rest of the gaming industry by implementing new design philosophies and techniques which held them back massively. On the game design side, things like teaching a player without them feeling like they're being taught, and on the technical side, things like netcode. We're only just now getting the latter. F2P is not some miracle solution, it's a band-aid fix that ignores the core issues with why fighting games can't keep players, and a desperate attempt to draw them in. It doesn't matter how fancy and appealing the house seems if it's built on a foundation of sand.
I think it's the way forward for SF6 to be F2P It's the future. They need to have Play 2 Win feature in there too.
No way in hell I want SF6 to be F2P that would be a disaster, if that comes into fruition…..
This is the incorrect take. You can totally do free to play for SF6 and still see immediate returns. The issue is that Japanese devs won't churn out the amount of content needed to sustain a F2P game.
First, you launch with a "Founder Edition" that costs $60 and comes with all launch characters, maybe the full first season of DLC characters, then like a costume for every character that is for founders only. Anyone who was going to buy a not free to play SF6 will buy this. And there needs to be enough costumes and customizations available at launch to for ppl to buy. Then you get the immediate returns.
You're right about the level of content, but wrong about the need for there to be a sacrifice of some kind. But the company has to be big enough and all that, to have the money to invest up front and to keep the whole team churning out content. But essentially, fighting games are ready. They just have to take the leap and not half ass it. It has to be done right. Go all in.
As for single player, devs gotta get more creative with shit to do. NRS is best at this. Ppl should take notes.
This was a good video! I like stuff like this
All of your cons sound perfect for a F2P fighting game. You paid for trash and now are stuck with it at least F2P I would be as upset.
I agree with a lot of this.. I've been saying that casuals just won't stay around when they realise you have to work at learning the game. It just wont happen. I like Maximilian but he is the king of the casuals. He obviously cares about fighting games but he doesn't currently invest huge amounts of time into them. Max is right when he says that the casuals put the most money into games but he forgets that they won't hang around.
free to play = pay to win = total s**t
Bruh look at the failure of Tekken Revolution even though it came out when F2P games weren’t booming still an example of how fighting games won’t be a good F2P strategy. Also way more people play shooters than fighting games this is exactly why some shooters end up being successful as F2Ps.
Max while meaning well does not realize the weight he has on the community and how his opinion is taken as gospel by most of his followers. Going F2P would hurt the quality for SF6 and will give Capcom more reasons to launch an incomplete product.
Yeah… Vesper is absolutely right.
It's because NRS has already solved the issue. Launch at a premium price, but include so much content that you appeal to casuals & hardcore alike. Then, immediately start rolling out the DLC plans, with not only characters – but skins (both free & paid), stages (both free & paid) and even story modes. Furthermore, have an online, rotating time-based game mode that allows you to earn even more content the more you play.
They sold more copies at launch, and more DLC, than any other FG ever. Also, if NRS had announced MORE DLC and story content for MK11 instead of moving on, that content would have kept selling huge as well.
People are trying to fix something that isn't broken.
free to play no and no
I believe fighting games (maybe not all) can start going free successfully, however people need to stop acting like all fighting games can somehow go free instantly which is impossible. It would take time to figure out monetization methods, Battlepasses, what can they sell that's not just skins, how would the update the game to keep people in, and other stuff. It's not easy for traditional fighters to just go free, but I do think it's possible, but could take time. Maybe the upcoming league of legends fighting game if it's free, could speak some inspiration to other devs maybe. But we will have to see. I do believe fighting games going free could heavily boost the fighting game genre way higher then it's ever been, but we all know it's not that simple. Devs need money to support themselves, the game, to give updates, events, and other stuff so think about that.
Call me a traditionalist, but I prefer my product cash up front. The only way F2P would work for me is if the product is soooooo damn good that I want to replay it after completing it and they deliver an improved or updated experience.
Things like additional costumes/skins, addtitional stages doesn't really matter to me. I'm in it for the Ws, not to show off how cool my main looks! 😂 Mai Shiranui in a bikini means nothing to me if I can't even get a fake "Kagero no Mai" in her movelist. 🤷♂️
But if it’s F2P then Capcom would make MORE Chun Li costumes. Who doesn’t want that?
Even though SFV had a rough start, I stuck with it since day one still a game I play the most till this day. 😎
For me how I think about is that you can either spend 20 bucks for a single skin for a single character, or you could spend 30 bucks and get a season pass which gives you 5 unique characters. The latter is a way better deal imo
I think the new fighting game with the League of Legends characters will be free to play to keep continuity with the proper League of Legends game.
Fighting games really need to get their ducks in a row before even talking about F2P. They as a genre cant even get a standardized feature set. (working rollback, online matchmaking, single player experience etc…) That games have to advertise rollback as part of their featureset and im like (you have to advertise it at this point because people are sick of fighting games as a genre not catching up to the rest of the industry and will refuse to buy the games anymore)
I wrote this at the start, in reaction to the tittle; if capcom and other fighting game studios aren't ready for f2p, project L and riot will certainly be. F2p games make more money than triple A games, it's just a fact, Dota2, Lol and even csgo(not exactly f2p, more like free to play casual modes) if they are monetised correctely there is no reason fighting games would be an exception.
I like how vesper is calling em out. A lot of the suggestion about how things should work is just not well thought out, or straight up troll
Wonder if history will look back at this moment as a bad take;
Personally I think every individual player has something unique to bring to the table,
there's value in their data alone, in the matchmaking, skill tree, company, feedback, insight, training, etc…
Putting the game behind a Pay Wall excludes a-lot of talent,
especially potential talent that's unforeseen in the present.
Publishers and Share holders will be like the answer to F2P for Fighting Games, add a gem system.
pretty ineffective video ngl, most of the premises are mischaracterized, and the points are all "thats not how it works" or "its never been done before" which makes this video a weak example of the case against f2p. he might be cherry picking the extreme online voices from twitter maybe? i would be FAR more interested in seeing Vesper challenge himself to come up with ways an f2p fighting game COULD actually be pulled off . might need to take the ideas and lab them to come up with something interesting 😉
The other side needs to be explained on this and I'm glad you are because while I like Maximilian he is at the end of the day a talking head with a huge audience that tends to hang on his every word and not think about things for themselves. Not all of them obviously but a good amount. F2P has alot of caveats that are negative that people aren't bringing up.
F2P games need to incentivate constant play and resource management. You need to balance various markets and make them all happy at once. If people who can play for free leave a lot of marketing and possible buyers are leaving, if people who paid arent happy then your few loyal customers will leave and all your investment will be for naught. Its a lose lose situation if you just arent doing it properly, and this is capcom.
The biggest problem with F2P is once the game doesn’t make money, the publishers gonna closed the server and the game will be completely dead that we can’t even played it offline. Like Tekken Revolution and SC Lost Sword for example.
So yeah i agreed with you. Not sure what is in Max mind that he pushed this idea about fighting games needs to be F2P. It’s just weird that he suddenly became more vocal towards F2P. It’s not even gonna solve the casual problem where they gonna quit with the game after they got bodied by experience players.
Scrolling through comments looking for Maximilian Doods name
I'm pretty much ride or die with Max on a lot of things, but every time he brings up F2P for fighting games I Just roll my eyes. I don't know if its genuine naivete' from him or if he genuinely doesn't understand the repercussions of a F2P model with fighting games.
I agree with everything you said Vesper. One other thing people fail to mention is how F2P would effect offline play. How would it effect locals required now to have their games always online? Would you be able to play a AAA quality game offline with friends? Even with SFV right now you can just buy the game upload all the content and then sign off and play locally with each other. No one is considering that headache.
hi guy is VesperArcade i`m not agree with free to play because fighting game are half bake game and lack so many feature for free to play but i`m ok the japansese devloper ripping you off selling you half bake game and selling 1000$ dlc, nice logic vesper
You mentioned story mode /arcade mode.
Would a f2p game actually have those features?
Thank you for having a contrary position to many of the bigger fgc voices.
am i the only one that really likes the current model? you buy the game and you get free updates with most of the important stuff(mainly characters) unlockable with fight money. you want sexy nurse/maid cammy? that you have to pay for.
https://youtu.be/Fq7B7BUmy80
Chun-Li VS Dee Jay