The release date for Street Fighter V is still a ways away; sometime in Spring 2016 is the current expectation. But those who pre-ordered the game were given beta access to the game this week, and it hasn’t gone well. Obviously, betas are by definition early builds of the game that players are effectively testing for game developers. But this beta has been so plagued with Server Full and Server Disconnect errors that Capcom has decided to pull the plug on the entire thing until they can sort their connectivity issues out.
Here’s the apologetic announcement from Capcom that the beta was ending:
“Capcom offers its sincerest apologies to everyone who participated in this first beta test. While the purpose of a beta is to work out these type of issues, it was very clear that the issues we faced were more severe than we were prepared for. 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. We will be postponing our first beta phase until we believe the experience is going to be a positive one for players.”
Most people are taking the news gracefully, but there are some fans complaining that they feel ripped off after putting their cash down on the pre-order for early access. Capcom has since promised to make up for the disappointment by offering a “worthwhile in-game incentive,” and assuring that pre-order customers would still be a part of “at least three full beta tests prior to the game’s launch.”
Not too bad of a deal, considering betas are betas specifically because everything might break and players are the willing guinea pigs sent in to crash things. Capcom’s decision to shut the whole beta down couldn’t have been easy, but pulling the plug is definitely better than just allowing players to waste another week of their time trying to make it past the loading screen of the game.
(via Capcom)