It’s been said time and time again that much of a fighting game’s success hinges on its playable cast. With Street Fighter V, Capcom will provide a mixture of old-school world warriors, more obscure returning characters, and newcomers to check out, but why exactly did they choose Birdie or Karin over, say, Sagat?
Associate producer Peter “Combofiend” Rosas recently sat down with Paste to discuss development on Street Fighter V’s roster, how characters were chosen, and possibilities in the upcoming game’s future.
Fans should be happy to hear that popularity isn’t the only deciding factor when it comes to choosing Street Fighter V cast members. While a public outpouring of support from the community certainly helps, Capcom also looks for characters that “add spice to the overall flow of the game.”
Returning to our previous examples, Rosas explains that both Birdie and Karin had a wealth of potential heading into development due to their relatively limited appearances prior to Street Fighter V. “Although [Birdie] has a lot of similar attacks from his Street Fighter Alpha incarnation, he also has a new chain throw (amongst other moves), which adds an entirely new spacing dimension to the character that was previously lacking.”
Diversity has also been kicked up a notch thanks to debutants like Rashid and Laura, who provide Middle Eastern and Brazilian jiu-jitsu representation respectively, and the fighting game community shouldn’t expect that to end anytime soon. Rosas mentions that the development team is specifically looking for regions and fighting styles that have yet to be featured in the Street Fighter franchise as they move forward.
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Source: Paste
