Capcom has announced that the first version of Street Fighter 5

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“ Players will be able to earn these new characters for free.

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In a statement made to IGN, Capcom outlined a hefty chunk of their post-launch support plan for the upcoming entry of their flagship fighting series. First off, any and all balance changes will be completely free; you will never be required to buy a newer version of Street Fighter 5 in order to keep up with the current meta and player-base.As you might imagine, there will come a time when Capcom will want to expand the roster beyond the starting cast, which we were told will be comprised of 12 returning characters and four completely new ones for a healthy day one crop of 16 fighters. The method by which new characters will be added however, is where Capcom is making big changes.Though actual dollar/Fight Money amounts haven't been settled yet, this is a pretty big departure from Capcom's typical cycle of releasing large, paid content bundles once every year or two. This new method allows players to stay up to date balance-wise without spending a dime, and gives them the option to only buy/unlock whatever new characters interest them instead of being forced to get them all in order to keep up with the rest of the player-base.This is essentially the end of the Turbo/Super/Ultra style content progression that Street Fighter has become known for.

Vincent Ingenito is IGN's foremost fighting game nerd. F ollow him on Twitter and tell him what you want him to test out next time he plays Street Fighter 5.