Capcom also notes that the game was considered a 'reboot' for the company

Street Fighter 5 had what many would call a rocky launch with broken online servers, eight frames of input lag and poor user reviews, but Capcom has stuck with the game for over two and a half years updating the title with new content on a seemingly monthly basis.

The game is in a much better place content wise and playability wise than it was early in 2016 with a new update coming later this month to hopefully bring down Street Fighter 5's input delay even further, and it appears that the developer and publisher still has much in store for the game in the future.

Capcom released their Integrated Report for 2018 today for investors and the company early this week to detail the video game publisher's growth and it's strategy for continuing their success into the future. Street Fighter imagery is even used throughout the cover and opening pages of the report showing off a number of pictures from Capcom Cup 2017.

Along with other major titles like Monster Hunter, Street Fighter receives its own section in the report titled "Rebounding from Adversity: Combination of Ongoing Updates and eSports Significantly Grows User Base" where they discuss Street Fighter 5's poor launch, how they've turned it around and where the brand is going in the coming years.

Capcom acknowledges the 'disappointing' release of SF5 hurt the game and its image though they feel that their continued updates may have saved the brand as a whole and rebuilt some trust with the community. They also lay out some potential plans going forward for their flagship fighter to expand its appeal including making things cheaper and branching out further with eSports.

In their report, Capcom states Street Fighter 5 was "based on the development concept of [a] 'reboot' following a rethought approach to game creation aimed at enabling a wide range of users to play the game."

They point to their "server issues affect[ing] areas such as fight matchups and loading times, which resulted in an inability to provide a smooth game play experience" as one of the primary factors behind their poor 3.6 user score on Meta Critic but moved forward with fixes and updates to reverse the course of the troubled Street Fighter ship.

"We rebuilt the server environment from the ground up, and carried out continuous updates to augment the game’s content, [and] we were able to provide a more complete product," states Capcom's Integrated Report.

Arcade Edition's launch at the start of 2018 appears to have cemented Street Fighter 5's redemption arc for Capcom enough to where they are confident in sticking with and expanding upon the title for the foreseeable future

"The Metascore of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, launched in January 2018, has risen significantly, restoring trust among fans and enabling brand recovery," writes Capcom.

On top of all of the progress they've made with the title since 2016, the company also details the ways in which it is exploring for growing the game's player base beyond its previously reported 2.1 million owners doubling down on eSports and perhaps making content even cheaper for consumers.

"Going forward, we will engage in ongoing updates and are considering a strategic lowering of software and add-on content pricing to further grow the user base," according to game publisher's report. "Given the success of team league competitions in eSports, we will promote the full-fledged formation of leagues outside the North America region to acquire more new players."

"Going forward, we will engage in ongoing updates and are considering a strategic lowering of software and add-on content pricing to further grow the user base" - Capcom

Street Fighter 5's already found success in the realm of eSports beyond their own Capcom Pro Tour with smaller leagues like Rage, Topanga and ELEAGUE with the statement above pointing to the company pushing for more worldwide tournaments and organizations to get behind the fighting game in 2019 and beyond.

Capcom also points to incorporating community feedback and releasing "highly demanded new characters an costumes" as other aspects of their strategies for success for Street Fighter 5, so it appears as though the company is sticking with the game for the long haul.

Hopefully these statements point to a brighter future for SF5 and their fighting game division as a whole, but the fruits of their labor will be put to the test with the upcoming input lag update.

Source: Capcom Integrated Report 2018