The first Street Fighter 5 beta, which went up and down as Capcom tried to fix assorted technical problems, isn't coming back this time. Capcom has decided to call the whole thing off and try again later.
Capcom still plans to host three full beta sessions before Street Fighter 5 releases in March 2016 - which is good, given that guaranteed beta access is a pre-order incentive in North America. The company is also working on "a worthwhile in-game incentive" for those who participated (or tried to participate) in the suspended test.
"After three days of testing, while we were making progress and collecting valuable data, we felt the majority of players were not having a good experience, and the best course of action would be to take the servers offline for extended maintenance," a Capcom representative explained. "We will be postponing our first beta phase until we believe the experience is going to be a positive one for players."
Meanwhile, Street Fighter 5 producer/loyal Blanka supporter Yoshinori Ono hasn't tweeted anything since July 25. He was so publicly ashamed and apologetic about the beta issues before, I'm getting a bit worried about him. Maybe we should all pitch in and send him a fruit basket?
Seen something newsworthy? Tell us!
