What’s up, World Warriors? We have a ton of new details to share with you today surrounding the next update for Street Fighter V, including the return of Guile along with his classic stage and some additional improvements to the online experience.

Guile is certainly one of the most iconic Street Fighter characters as he was one of the original eight World Warriors in Street Fighter II. His connection to Charlie Nash was revealed in his Street Fighter II ending as he prepares to finish off M. Bison once and for all for killing his friend and mentor — but is stopped at the last moment by his wife Jane.

It wasn’t until Street Fighter Alpha 3 however where we learned more details about Guile’s search for Nash who had gone missing during a secret mission. While Guile eventually found Nash at the Shadaloo base, their reunion was short lived as Nash held off M. Bison to allow Guile to escape and was the last time he saw the man who taught him how to throw Sonic Booms.

In Street Fighter IV, Guile’s search for Nash continues as his body was never recovered, and while unsuccessful in finding him, he does run into French MMA fighter Abel who is familiar with Guile’s fighting style. Guile, knowing that Nash is the only other fighter that uses Sonic Booms, presses Abel for more answers but is unable to get any new information.

While Guile has had a major role in most of the mainline Street Fighter games, he has also appeared in countless crossover titles such as Street Fighter x Tekken, Marvel vs Capcom series, and Capcom vs SNK 2.

Guile will be available for free later this month to all players until the Zenny shop launches and will receive his own set of Trials and Character Story. His Battle Costume will be available for free to all Season Pass holders as well.

Character overview

In Street Fighter V, Guile retains his ability to dominate both the ground and air with his solid normal attacks and special moves, such as Sonic Boom and Somersault Kick. He also now has the ability to enter a crouch walk state called Faultless Move which allows him to keep his charge while moving forward, giving him even more options in his kit to keep his opponents in line.

Guile is a great choice for those of you who are looking for a charge character who can easily control the pace of the match.

V-Skill: Sonic Blade

Guile spins up sonic energy to create a Sonic Blade which acts as a stationary projectile that can also juice up his Sonic Booms. Sonic Blade can really help Guile pressure opponents on their wake-up or help him win projectile battles as it increases Sonic Boom durability!

V-Trigger: Solid Puncher

Guile powers up and tosses out continuous Sonic Booms! Each button throws a Sonic Boom at a different speed, so mixing up between buttons can create interesting Sonic Boom sequences.

Depending on the sequence used, this can act as a great combo extender, be used to overwhelm opponents, or easily push opponents to the corner.

Critical Art: Sonic Hurricane

Guile’s most devastating attack, the Sonic Hurricane! Guile powers up and hits his opponent with a massive, multi-hit Sonic Boom. This Critical Art receives a damage and range boost while his V-Trigger is active.

Air Force Base Stage

We’re also excited to announce our first DLC stage, which is a classic that you all know and love: Guile’s Air Force Base!

The F-16 receives a new coat of paint and you’ll probably recognize some familiar faces cheering you on in the background. This stage will be available in the Shop for 70,000 FM. Season Pass holders will receive this stage for free as a thank you for supporting Street Fighter V.

Rage quit system

We’re also happy to announce that we will be implementing a system to punish players who frequently disconnect during matches (aka rage quitters).

The way this will work is the system will identify players who have high disconnect rates during matches and will lock them out of matchmaking for a period of time. Players who have been identified as abusing the system will receive an in-game message notifying them they have been locked out of matchmaking.

More additions and enhancements to this system will be implemented in the future.

Matchmaking improvements

We will also be making a number of improvements to Street Fighter V’s matchmaking. Many users should have an easier time creating and connecting to Battle Lounges and we are also loosening the restrictions on finding an opponent. We know users in Europe and other parts of the world have experienced some issues finding opponents and this should help increase the amount of battles coming their way.

That’s it for today! We’ll have details on the release date of the April update very soon.