Capcom has confirmed plans to release a free, post-launch patch that adds a tournament support mode to upcoming fighting game Street Fighter x Tekken.



While Capcom is yet to finalise the details of what the mode will actually do, it is designed to alleviate fan concern over the controversial gem system - and how it will impact tournaments.



"We know a lot of players are worried that with the gem system tournaments will be harder to run," Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono told Eurogamer.



"We know they take a lot of time. A lot of players were saying, 'I have to do button checks. Do I have to do a gem check now before a match?' With regards to that we plan to release a free post-launch tournament support mode."



Meanwhile, the enthusiastic Japanese developer was keen to stress that the gem system - 57 gems will be included on the disc with others supplied as pre-order bonuses - has been misunderstood by much of the fighting game community.



"In terms of DLC gems, we don't have any set plans on selling gems like this or like that," Ono said. "We're waiting to see what the user reaction is first, because we think a lot of users still don't understand the gem system completely.



"They're not power-up items. That's not how we see them. We put gems into the game which are default. As long as you have these default ones you'll be fine. If you want to get more gems down the road from the pre-order bonuses, you can definitely do that, but it doesn't make you stronger, it doesn't make you a better player, it doesn't mean you'll have an advantage.



Capcom promised to patch the game post-launch should the community feel a gem is too strong or the balance is suffering.