Capcom originally scheduled Street Fighter 5's Definitive Update for the start of this month but delayed it to make it perfect
Late last night (technically morning for some of us), the third Japan Fighting Game Publishers Roundtable stream was held. It was only at the very end of the livestream where companies opted to make a few announcements.
Of course, Capcom didn't really have any announcements ready for the livestream since Street Fighter 6 and the Street Fighter 5 Definitive Update have both been recently revealed. Instead, Capcom's Shuhei Matsumoto — through the translations of Michael Murray and Jiyuna — revealed some information about how Capcom is approaching Street Fighter 5's Definitive Update (among other things).
"It was [originally] scheduled for the beginning of this month, but it was pushed back to the end of the month because there was so much that they wanted to put into the update," stated Murray and Jiyuna's translation of what was being said by Street Fighter 5's Producer.
Evidently, the developers are working especially hard on this update since it seems to be the "last hurrah" for Street Fighter 5. It also appears that they are quite confident that they'll be able to make this update special due to their experience with working on Street Fighter 5 throughout the years.
"The game has been out since 2016," continued the translation. "The developers have been working on the game for a long time.
"They really feel like they understand the game, so for this last update they want to make sure it's perfect and really get the spirit of Street Fighter 5 in everything. The developers are working very hard right now."
During the Definitive Update trailer, fans were treated to nearly two minutes of clips that featured some of the balance changes coming to the game. Overall, it really feels like Capcom is making a significant effort to improve upon fighters that have been lacking throughout the seasons.
As demonstrated in the trailer, many characters are getting access to new combo routes that were previously not possible. Unless damage is being reduced across the board, this suggests that a lot of characters will be hitting harder in the next update.
For example, Ryu's crouching heavy punch will now launch the opponent while V-Trigger 1 is active. Because of this, Ryu will now be able to cancel crouching heavy punch into an EX fireball, dash forward and then perform an EX dragon punch at mid screen.
What's interesting is that the trailer only showcased buffs. There haven't been any nerfs spotted so far. Even Urien, a combatant that's typically viewed as a top tier, appears to have a few buffs.
It really feels like Capcom is trying to make Street Fighter 5 go out with a bang with the Definitive Update before they really start showcasing Street Fighter 6. We'll just have to see how the meta shapes up once the Definitive Update is released on March 29.
