‘Street Fighter V’ New Beta Batch Dated, Offers Cross-Platform Play As Ono Considers Arcade Version Of Game

Shirtless Ryu Street Fighter V — Ryu's pre-order costume from GameStop for "Street Fighter V" http://www.capcom-unity.com/

Following the official announcement of newcomer and Brazilian fighter Laura into the “Street Fighter V” roster, Capcom has also finalized the dates for the second beta run. This round brings a shorter testing period, but more features to enjoy.

The second global beta will start on Oct. 22 and last until Oct. 25, though the developer was quick to add that dates are still subject to change. Players will now get a shot at cross-platform play for this round, so friends can face off each other, regardless if they are using the PS4 or PC. But those on the PC will have a shorter run in the beta, as access for the PC will only be allowed starting Oct. 24.

Capcom is also introducing more characters into the beta program. Since there have been a couple of announcements since the last beta, Capcom announced via the Capcom Unity Blog that it will bring in four additional characters. These include new face Necalli, as well as “Street Fighter” mainstays Ken, Vega and R. Mika from day one. Capcom has hinted that it will also add Rashid On Oct. 23 and Karin on Oct. 24. Sadly, the characters that were playable in the last beta, including Ryu, Chun-Li, Nash, Cammy, Birdie and M. Bison, will not be available in the beta roster this time.

Competitive players can also look forward to ranked matchmaking, to ensure that they are paired with players of similar skills. The developer hinted that the system will be adaptive, so those who get better later on will be paired with more competitive and harder-to-handle players.

These rankings will then be reflected in the leaderboards, which will display both the best players on the PS4 and the PC. Other features in the “Street Fighter V” beta include player search to view fighter profiles and unlockable items using the Fight Money. As usual, all unlocked items and character progress will not carryover to the next hinted beta or the final launch of the title.

All regions can access the beta for PC users, granted that players preorder “Street Fighter V” on Steam. A detailed list of regions and participating retailers has been released for PS4 users, seen in the Capcom blog.

Capcom appears to have quite a number of plans for “Street Fighter V.” In fact, creator Yoshinori Ono even hinted that they are still considering the possibility of releasing the game in an arcade version, Shoryuken reported.

For now, the team behind the title is still busy with optimizing the game for its specific consoles, PS4 and PC. However, it did not push aside the possibility of bringing it to arcade, which could mean that the game may be seen in game centers, specifically in Japan, in the future.