It’s hard to not know a thing or two about Street Fighter. The game is a massive draw and a huge cultural icon. It’s been this way for over two decades. Last generation’s title, Street Fighter IV, was available on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. This year, in around a month from now, Street Fighter V will be releasing, but it will be releasing only on PC and PlayStation 4.
Sony has seen an opportunity in this, and has already made moves to ensure people buy the game on their console as well as create an illusion that PlayStation 4 has more exclusives. Seen on the Best Buy page for the game is a little logo on the PS4 copy of the game that reads PlayStation 4 Console Exclusive Game. Now, we can see what that is meant to mean but it’s not hard to see how it can mislead the less informed. This practice isn’t altogether rare, though, and often happens when the only alternate choice for a game is on the PC. This is just a new example, with a shiny new logo, of an old technique.
Street Fighter V will feature cross-platform play betweepn the PC and the PlayStation 4. Microsoft’s unwillingness to do things like this on the Xbox One could be part of the reason the game won’t launch on their console. It’s a shame, too, because a larger audience for the game means a larger competitive pool for an already hyper competitive game.