The Evolution Championship Series (EVO) 2019 is upon us this weeke♒ndꦿ.
The best fighters in the world are getting ready to face off in our favorite competitive fighting games, ranging from franchise staples like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mortal Kombat 11 to relative newcomers like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dragon Ball FighterZ. While the action is sure to be great, many die-hard fans of Capcom are wondering what, if anything, the co🍌mpany will bring to the t𓂃able this year after a period of .
Capcom Used To Rule The FGC Scene in the '90s
Throughout the '90s and well into the new millennium, Capcom had been a dominating force in the fighting game scene with few able to even temporarily take attention away from its 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Street Fighter series. Within the Fighting Game Community (FGC), Capcom has always bee💯n an integral participant, but by no means has sought to control what the FGC is, and instead looked to be a collaborative partner.
In a recent with James Chen, a well-known caster in the FGC for all sorts of competitive fighting games, the topic of Capcom’s former involvement was discussed. From the FGC's humble beginnings in the '90s, with almost no corporate sponsorship to dictate the law of the land, companies like Capcom used to have a strong presence with their major titles. Now, however, we have seen a notable shift in how the developer has been handling its more successful series, Street Fighter, and how poorly its most recent release of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite has fared since release.
The Current State Of Street Fighter V
The state of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Street Fighter V (SFV) is 🍃not looking great, but not as dire as some would have you believe. After releasing in 2016 and being touted to be treated far more like a game as a service tha🐼n previous installments, fans have had reason to be disappointed and doubt the words of Capcom.
In terms of content, the develope🧔r accustomed its player base to expect six new DLC characters with each season along with the occasional balance or bug fix. With the last release of only Kage, followed by eight months of silence from Capcom, players are right to be confused, and EVO 2019🌠 is the perfect place to see a significant announcement from the developer. If Capcom were to remain silent this upcoming weekend, it could spell a total loss of confidence by the player base.
And let’s ওbe honest: even if Capcom is out of meaningful characters to introduce, and cannot fathom new modes of play, there are still numerous issues that need fixing that have been on the docket for quite some time now. Anti-air jabs, root-kits, input lag, throw loops, and more are still persistent issues in the game. They are better than before, but not yet fully corrected, which is ridiculous three years after launch. A few characters could also use some balance adjustment, namely Akuma, or Rashid.
The Recent Failings of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
We need not beat this dead horse for too long, since the failure of Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite has been a persistent sore eye for Capcom from before it even released. To no one’s surprise, the game will not be at EVO 2019. Its failings include lackluster character design and an absurdly small roster, coupled with a tone-deaf response from developers regarding the absence of certain fan-favorite fighters. In many ways, this game failed because its developers took the approach of dictating to players h𓂃ow best to enjoy the game, which today’s consumer has no time for.
Still, the potential for the series looks bright, at least in theory. When seeing how the game was designed, and the character choices made, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Capcom likely had their hands tied in needing to blend the recent game with the cultural juggernaut that is the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Marvel Cinematic Universe. For games like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3, this has worked out fine, both because that game is story-driven, everyone loved 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Avengers: Endgame, and the roster is massi💛ve at nearly forty characters.
Fans of the fighting game, however, di✃d not appreciate having these MCU character tie-ins, small roster, and all at the expense of their previous favorite chaඣracters. While this game is likely doomed to remain a critical and commercial failure, to say nothing of its exclusion from EVO 2019, we can only hope that in the future Capcom can point to this game as justification to take the series back to its roots.
The Rise Of Other Developers: Arc System Works, Bandai Namco, and SNK
While Capcom has been a dominant figure in the FGC, and Street Fighter has hardly ever left the spotlight over the past three decades, other developers have stormed into the scene with their own hit games. Now, with Arc System Works, Bandai Namco, and SNK in the spotlight, we may simply be observing the natural progression of fighting games. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Tekken 7 for example released a full year before Street Fighter V, and it has not had issues with missing content releases and balance updates, with its most recent Season 2 refreshing the meta wi🅺th a large shift in viable fighters.
Perhaps ꦫCapcom does not need to turꦆn things around, at least right at this very moment.
The underlying issue may simply be that Street Fighter V has run its develo♊pment course. Which is to say, there is little that the developers feel necessary to do from now until they release the next game in the series. If so, this lull is a natural part of any game towards the end of its life. The issue, of course, is that the developers are not communicating this to their players, leaving us all in the dark.
Will We See Big EVO News From Capcom?
As for the big EVO news that fans are expecting for the Street Fighter series, it is anyone’s guess rig𝓡ht now. Since there has bee𒀰n an eight-month period of no news or releases, one could argue that a single DLC character amounts to big news.
Still, perhaps Capcom could sur🐷prise everyone by returning to its constant content release. Maybe this long silence has all been a ruse to keep expectations low, then shatter the minds of attendees with new characters, balance updates, and bug fixes.
That might be a little 🥀too optimistic, but we can certainly hope🐈.