It seemed inevitable that the infamously PlayStation-favouring Street Fighter V would make an appearance at Sony’s E3 keynote tonight, and sure enough, it did.
To start, two all-new characters were revealed for the game, both being veteran combatants that avid fans should recognize. The first is Cammy, the young, female clone of series villain, M. Bison, who made her debut in Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, and has been a fan-favourite series mainstay ever since. The second all-new character is Birdie, a non-playable character in the very first Street Fighter, though one that players could finally wield in Street Fighter Alpha.
Both characters predictably pack some big-time V-Trigger attacks, with Cammy making multiple copies of herself that attack enemies, while Birdie becomes enraged to deal heavy damage. Their V-Skills are also unique, with Cammy using her old Spin Knuckle attack to knock opponents upward, while Birdie hilariously makes use of a variety of gag items to either boost his own stats, or trip up his opponent.
Alongside the reveal of these two returning characters, Capcom also announced plans for a Street Fighter V multiplayer beta. Those who pre-order Street Fighter V on PlayStation 4 will get guaranteed access to the first beta phase, rolling out on July 23rd. The two subsequent betas will allow PC players to join in, apparently, though only PlayStation 4 players will get to take part in the first wave, unfortunately.
It bears repeating that Street Fighter V is still permanently skipping Xbox One completely, even in its potential special editions, only releasing for PlayStation 4 and PC. This is a result of Capcom making a serious deal with Sony for exclusivity rights to the game, despite the fact that a PC version of Street Fighter V still ended up being authorized, even if the PlayStation 4 version is clearly getting priority treatment.
Street Fighter V is targeting release in early 2016. Keep hadoken’ing Eggplante for all news and updates on Street Fighter V, and other developments in the series.