Famitsu: You also announced that the story will be richer this time around. Could you go into more detail on this?



Sugiyama: This time around, we've put some real work into the story. We've placed it firmly in continuity, and really been thinking hard on how to couple relationships between characters in away that'll make players go "Oh, so that's it!" once they play. For example, the Street Fighter Alpha series has kind of felt like an alternate continuity before this, so we want to produce some clarity around that.



Famitsu: Is that why there are so many Alpha characters?



Sugiyama: I can't go into any detail yet, so please look forward to the release of the game for more on that.



Famitsu: Speaking of Alpha, I feel as if the only Alpha character at this point who hasn't been in either SF4 or SF5 is Sodom. Did you guys just kind of forget about him?



Sugiyama: Haha, we have not forgotten Sodom. Sodom was one of the candidates we were considering from the Alpha series, but he was difficult to fit into the story. If we include Sodom, that also brings in the Mad Gear Gang. We also can't very well put Sodom in without having any of Cody, Haggar or Guy.



Also, since Sodom's lines are all mispronounced Japanese, writing his lines is a lot of work, which makes him hard to put in. Don't worry, that last part is just a joke, haha.



Famitsu: Haha. We're getting 6 new characters in 2016, right? What did you base your character choices on there?



Sugiyama: Yes, they will be out within one year. A large part of choosing the characters came from people's requests as well as how we thought they'd be able to fit into the story that we're telling.



Famitsu: Ohoh, Alex's popularity is pretty high, huh?



Sugiyama: Honestly, from Capcom USA's research, we found out that Alex is ridiculously popular in America. Quite a different trend from Japan, haha. There were a very large amount of users who wanted him more than anyone else, overseas. Also, he's a pretty rustic and loner-ish character, and after all was the main character of Street Fighter 3, so we wanted to feature him again.

