Many of you have been asking for a version of Super Street Fighter IV for PC for a long time and I was very pleased to be able to announce it a month ago at our Captivate event in Miami. As we get closer to release, we’ve been getting a lot of questions specific to the PC. There has been a lot of thought and consideration given specifically to the PC edition and I wanted to try and share with the community as much information as possible.

What's New for PC Users

For those of you joining us recently, the PC received Street Fighter IV, but didn’t get the love of Super Street Fighter IV (sorry guys). With Arcade Edition, there’s a pretty massive leap in new content for PC owners – 14 new characters, new background stages, new replay modes, new spectator modes, bonus stages and a complete character rebalance. Basically tons of new features and content to bring the PC current with the Street Fighter scene.

Providing a better online experience

So being on PC, there are some things about SSFIV: Arcade Edition that differ from the versions on consoles.  Unlike consoles, the PC is an open platform, we never quite know the hardware configuration a player is using to run the game (or what else he may be running softwarewise at the same time). That can be a great thing or a challenge from a development standpoint.

On the one hand, someone may have super awesome Intel Core i-7 CPU goodness coupled with an Nvidia 580 GPU so they’re able to run at 1920 x 1200 or higher resolutions (higher than 1080p) with crazy levels of anti-aliasing and full stereoscopic 3D via Nvidia’s 3D Vision. Super. Big <3s to you.

On the other hand, someone may be trying to run the game on hardware that is lower powered than the required specs, or trying to run the game on decent hardware but has configured it at settings higher than his hardware can realistically maintain a solid 60 frames per second. And unfortunately, you might be trying to play online against that person. In the past with SFIV, this person would be slowing down the whole game, completely changing the input timings you’ve worked so hard to perfect (or in my case, not quite perfect) and as a result, the experience may be less than optimal.

In SSFIV:AE, we’ve implemented a couple of measures that are designed to help:

As with SFIV, there’s a benchmark that should be used by players to adjust settings to a level where they can consistently hit 60 fps.  What’s new though, is that the benchmark results will be used as one of the online matching criteria. That is to say, it will try to match players with good framerates with other players with good framerates, all other criteria being equal (and conversely it should match folks who don’t have proper settings or hardware with other folks who similarly haven’t made that point a priority). This should help to keep experiences consistent assuming enough people are in the matching pool at any particular moment.

The second part of the solution comes in the form of a new options setting that will allow players to choose “smooth” framerate, “variable” framerate or “fixed” framerate. Smooth will attempt to playback all frames but potentially at the expense of a consistent or high framerate. This is similar to how SFIV handled it. Fixed will drop frames to keep the gameplay speed and inputs consistent. Variable is a hybrid of the two modes that will sometimes drop frames where absolutely necessary to maintain the gameplay.

Before you ask, the “extra effect” in the graphics settings menu can be set to “ink”, “watercolor” and “posterization” which are similar to the extra effects SFIV had on PC.

Here’s a couple more 1920x1200 screens of the PC version to show your eyes some love (click on them to see full sizedness):

Requirements and Recommendations

So the next question is, what sort of hardware do you need? The reality is, it doesn’t take a very high spec PC to deliver a console-like experience. Look to the recommended setup for even better than a console like experience.

Minimum Requirements:

• OS: Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7
• Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz and up
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• Graphics: DirectX 9.0c/Shader3.0 and up supported (operation on-board is not guaranteed)
• Video: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 and up (except for NVIDIA GeForce 7300), VRAM: 256MB and up (operation sharing with main memory is not guaranteed) or ATI Radeon X1600 and up VRAM: 256MB and up.
• Hard Drive: 4.5 GB free hard drive space
• Sound: DirectSound, DirectX9.0c Compatible Audio
• Other Requirements: Online play requires software installation of and log-in to Games For Windows – LIVE

Recommended Hardware: 

• OS: Windows Vista/Windows 7
• Processor: Intel Core2 Duo 2.0 GHz and up
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: DirectX 9.0c/Shader3.0 and up supported (operation on-board is not guaranteed)
• Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 and up, VRAM: 512MB and up (operation sharing with main memory is not guaranteed)
• Hard Drive: 4.5 GB free hard drive space
• Sound: DirectSound, DirectX9.0c Compatible Audio

 

Controller Support

SSFIV: AE will support up to two Xbox 360/Games for Windows game pads and/or compatible fight sticks (e.g. Mad Catz fight sticks) out of the box. It’s been tested with both wired and wireless versions.

Additionally, all keyboard bindings, for both players, are completely remappable for keyboard players or those using non-standard controllers/Joy2Key/Xpadder. 

Games for Windows Live

In order to create an identical level of services as we’ve provided on the console, we’ve selected Games for Windows Live as the online services layer within SSFIV:AE. So the replay channels, achievements, friends lists, messaging, etc. are exactly the same as they are on Xbox Live. Before it gets asked though, no there is no cross platform matching/play with Xbox 360 users.

Now, on the security side of things, SFIV unfortunately was plagued by pirates and hackers that messed up leaderboards. To hopefully remedy that, SSFIV:AE will be making use of what is called SSA technology (similar to what we used in Dead Rising 2). Like Xbox Live, players will sign in when they launch the game. You must have a Games for Windows Live account (which is free) in order to get full access to the title.  If you already have an Xbox Live silver or gold account, those would work too and your achievements would be added/displayed in your usual gamescore.

Inevitably the question is: if you happen to temporarily lose your connection in the middle of your session (let’s say you’re working on combos in the training room or working on challenges), no problem. You’ll be able to keep doing what you’re doing until you come to a logical break point, like exiting to a menu, at which point you’ll be asked to sign back in. Assuming your PC is back online, everything will continue as it should, just like on Xbox 360.

If you aren’t signed in to an online GFWL profile, the offline mode has limited functionality. Obviously there’s no online play, access to replay channels or other online-centric features (and this is the part that keeps the online play secure from hackers or pirates). Additionally, you won’t be able to save any progress in challenges or settings, won’t have access to any DLC you’ve purchased and all local play will be restricted to 15 of the 39 characters.

Update: We will remove most of these offline restrictions. For details go here.

To answer a few other questions before they get asked:

There are no installation limits. The game is tied to the user account with the SSA mechanism. You can install it a zillion times and as long as you’re logged in on the associated account, you’re good to go.

Yes there is DLC supported. All of the costume packs from the console versions, going back to the original SFIV, will be made available via Games for Windows Live Marketplace. There is a caveat though: Steam users will not be using GFWL Marketplace to obtain DLC. We’ll provide more details on that wrinkle at a later date.

The GFWL services and functionality is the same regardless of whether you buy a physical disc or download via a digital delivery service. There is no other form of DRM on retail copies or most digital outlets. Steam and Impulse will be enabled to make use of their respective security solutions in addition to SSA.

But what if I don’t live in a GFWL Supported Region?

While Games for Windows Live has expanded its coverage (and I’m told, will continue to expand) it is not fully available worldwide. Many players in “unsupported countries” sign up for accounts from supported countries.

From a transactional standpoint, obviously a retailer and most (but not all) digital delivery services won’t restrict the sale of the product to you but this is definitely a buyer-beware situation. Unless you have or can get a Games for Windows Live account and you don’t live in one of the supported countries, unfortunately we don’t have a good solution for you today. We continue to work with MS on providing direction on which countries to expand to next.

What about Japan?

Now, Japan is a supported region on GFWL, however there were no plans to distribute the title in Japan at retail so it was never CERO rated.  And unfortunately, as a result our offices in Japan are not prepared to offer customer support on the game in that territory (sorry).

That said, if you are in Japan, you should be able to buy it from any of our digital partners and it should function normally provided you have a GFWL account (Japanese or otherwise). There is no geofencing turned on for GFWL supported territories. Just be aware that the level of service you would normally see from Capcom locally isn't going to be there.

So if I live Elsewhere, Where Would I Get Support?

For technical support on downloading, billing or installation, please contact the digital  distributor from where you purchased the game. For any gameplay or technical issues related to the game itself, you can use the following handy, dandy list:

• US:      (650) 350-6700 (8:30am - 5pm PST) 
• Europe: (10am - 5pm)
  • UK                  08005876638
  • France             0800909617
  • Italy                 800928830
  • Germany         08001801976
  • Spain               900811390 
• Korea: (02) 525-2127 (10am - 5pm)
• Asia (excluding Japan):    (852) 2366-1001 (10am - 5pm)

 

Expanded Language Support

In the past, I’ve gone on a bit about how the PC is a global platform and reaches a number of territories where consoles aren’t historically as strong. To that end we’ve localized the game in many more languages than its console counterpart. Here’s the full list:

• English
• French
• Italian
• German
• Spanish
• Japanese
• Simplified Chinese
• Russian
• Polish
• Czech
• Swedish
• Finnish
• Norwegian
• Portuguese
• Dutch
• Danish
• Korean

I’m sold! Where and when can I buy it? And how much will it be?

There will be physical retail releases in North America and Europe in early July (dates to be given a bit later but we’re trying to stay within a week or so of the console retail release) but additionally, our 20+ digital partners around the world will also be carrying the game. Folks in Korea, there will be a retail release but I'm sorry but you’re not going to be able to get it until October digitally. The SRP on the game is $39.99 (the same as the Xbox 360/PS3 disc based version). Several of our digital partners already have it up for pre-order. A few are offering “Buy 3 Copies/Get 4 Copies” offers to get your friends involved which is the “best deal” around.

• Capcom (free copy of Flock! with your purchase)
• Steam
• Direct2Drive
• Gamersgate
• Impulse
• And 16 others to be named later ;)

So in short, I do think the PC version of SSFIV: AE is an extremely feature packed version that we hope will continue to invigorate the PC gaming fighting scene. If you get a moment, pop over to Ono-san's twitter and let him know how excited you are about it.

-C