Hiya!

This should have been a good day for Street Fighter and Spy x Family fans. Capcom worked out a deal with the super popular anime and created a collaboration with Spy x Family to include costume outfits in the game. They even put up a trailer showing Chun-Li facing off against Yor. It does seem weird for Yor to use Juri’s moves, especially when she activated her Level 2 Feng Shui Engine. I would’ve preferred they used Cammy. Then again, it would’ve been strange to see her do a twisty move like her Spiral Arrow, in my opinion, of course.

Unfortunately, this Spy x Family and Street Fighter collaboration has been divisive for the fanbase, to say the least. This is because the costumes which are attached to this collaboration can only be outfitted on your avatar and not for the main roster of Street Fighter 6. Like with the previous collaboration Capcom did with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this has caused some outrage as the hardcore Street Fighter fans would have definitely preferred these collaboration costumes to work with the main roster and not just avatars.

Now, as someone who actually enjoys going through Street Fighter 6’s World Tour and Battle Hub, I actually enjoy dressing up my avatar in weird costumes. However, I do understand the outrage the more hardcore audience as they don’t really care for the avatar stuff. So, it’s time to debate with myself: Are Capcom’s collaborations good or bad as they only focus on avatar stuff?

On one hand, I understand the plight of the hardcore Street Fighter audience. They don’t really care for the avatar stuff as they’re more focused on grinding to Master rank, sharpening their skills so they beat other players and compete to reach the top of the Capcom Cup and win that cool million dollar prize. As such, they eschew anything which deals with avatar costumes and the like as they are not part of the “main game” of Street Fighter.

On the other hand, it does seem like the casual audiences enjoy these collaboration costume skins for their Street Fighter 6 avatars. Going back to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collaboration a while back, I thought the prices for a single Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael full-body costume was outrageously high. Even so, I did see more than a few avatars sporting the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle look when it was released. I don’t know how much of them experienced buyer’s remorse soon afterwards but, in that moment, I like to think they were happy with their purchase. If that’s the case, is that really a bad thing as they did get some joy, even for a day or two?

Still, there is quite a bit of imbalance when it comes to extra content between the core game and World Tour and Battle Hub stuff. In fact, most of the DLC Capcom has developed for Street Fighter 6 has been for the World Tour and Battle Hub avatars. Not only do the avatars seemingly get monthly costume updates, they also get things like emotes, stickers and much more.

Right now, the only real thing the core game has gotten when it comes to extra content would be the 3rd outfits for the launch roster. That took a while to get out, right? So, there is an impression Capcom is spreading their resources and dedicating more time and effort to the avatar stuff instead on the core game, leading to new stuff, like additional costumes for the actual characters, to get delayed.

However, I don’t think it’s as simple as that. Looking at all the DLC costumes for the main roster, it doesn’t seem Capcom were interested in half-assing them. They put a lot of work into them. They didn’t just slap on a new skin on them and called it a day. No, they went into great detail with them, even focusing on small things, such as Guile’s hair gliding through the comb in his win pose or Zangief’s glasses bouncing around realistically.

Capcom definitely didn’t give the same amount of attention to the avatar costumes as there is a lot of clipping in the clothing and facial animations look stiff. I do think the folks of Capcom are just churning these avatar outfits out quickly since they don’t really have to delve into the nitty-gritty to make them look perfect, which means they don’t really devote a lot of time and effort to them. So, they don’t really eat a lot of development time from the main roster costumes.

I do get why the hardcore Street Fighter fanbase get upset with these collaborations as they feel they’re getting ignored. Why is the casual crowd constantly getting stuff while they have to wait for months and months for things like costumes for the main roster? However, as a somewhat casual player as well, I do see the joy of just running around in World Tour in a crazy costume or two. I mean, Capcom has yet to put Sodom in the game. So why not get a practically free Sodom costume to beat up Mad Gear punks in?

Right now, I do think the hardcore audience has to lighten up a little bit as, even though it does suck they aren’t getting much content they like, the casual audience is paying good money to keep Street Fighter and Capcom afloat. I did check out the Spy x Family collaboration costumes and they actually don’t cost real money! The Yor and Loid costumes cost 1,000 Drive Tickets each. You can’t even use Fighter Coins to buy them! So, I believe the people behind Spy x Family are paying Capcom a hefty chunk of change for this collaboration as this is more of a PR stunt for them. If this allows Capcom to keep prices lower for future stuff, then everyone, including the hardcore audience should be on board with this.

The problem is the hardcore audience don’t really gain anything on their end with all of these avatar costumes and collaborations. Capcom shouldn’t ignore the hardcore crowd as they were the ones who stuck around when times were tough. So, why not give them things they would also like as well? At the very least, why not have these collaborations contribute to the main game in other ways. Capcom can look into promotions for future content. They can make it so, if they do buy a collaboration outfit, it gives the buyer a future discount for an additional costume for the main roster in the future. It’s not a lot but it’s something and it doesn’t really hurt Capcom as they still make money from the sale of the avatar costume. It’s win-somewhat win for both sides!

Byee!

What’s your take on the entire avatar situation in Street Fighter 6? Let me know in the comments section below!