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Fighting games went through a bit of a rough patch this year. After the revelation that a prominent member of the fighting game community, both founder and head of the biggest and most prestigious fighting game tournament, had engaged in sexual misconduct, the biggest event planned for the year was abruptly cancelled.
However, the two biggest fighting games on the market are still planning their next seasons’ updates. With new characters, new moves, and new tools, here’s what players can expect.
Tekken 7 Season 4 Updates planned
It’s fair to say that Tekken 7 is the most successful fighting game of its generation. Although playable in arcades in 2015, the game released to home platforms in 2017, roughly a year after Street Fighter V. This was vital for Tekken 7’s surge in popularity, as Street Fighter V released in a disastrous state.
This, coupled with Capcom’s other fighting games all also failing to capitalize on their hype (Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite released as an inferior game to its predecessor, Street Fighter X Tekken was plagued with game design problems) meant that there was a vacuum of good fighting games for the community to enjoy. That was when Tekken 7 made its way to home consoles, complete with excitement from the arcade fighting game community who had been playing it for years.
As a result, more people are playing or interested in playing Tekken than ever before, and with the new video teasing Tekken 7’s Season 4 updates. The brief video promises updates to matchmaking and skill tracking, improvements to the game’s netcode, and new moves for all characters. This will likely be paired with the usual release of new characters to the game, ensuring that Tekken 7 stays fresh for the fighting game community to enjoy.
Street Fighter V Season 5 Updates planned
Street Fighter V has had a rough time since its release, but after five years of iteration and updates it would be fair to say that Street Fighter V has made good on its promises to the fighting game community.
During a live streamed event hosted on Twitch, Capcom announced that quite a few characters would be introduced to the game’s roster. Included among these are Dan, Rose, Oro, Akira, and one mystery character set to release in the fall. The four which were revealed will be added to the game in one month intervals.
For those unaware, each of the revealed characters comes from a previous version of Street Fighter. Dan is commonly considered a joke character, one not meant to be strong but to be fun and interesting to play around with. Rose slots well into a zoning archetype, using her high mobility and ranged attacks to beat opponents.
Oro comes from Street Fighter III and plays mostly like a mix-up character, relying on creating situations where your opponents have to guess. And lastly, Akira comes from a Street Fighter spinoff game called Rival Schools, an attempt at creating a 3D Street Fighter. How her playstyle gets altered for the 2D game is yet unknown.
What this means for the fighting game community
The fighting game community will be excited for these updates to be applied to their favorite games. The announcement of improved network functionality for Tekken 7 will almost certainly make anyone there happy, as the fighting game community is usually very particular about having a strong netcode.
As for Street Fighter V’s planned updates, it will largely depend on each person’s opinion of the revealed characters. If Dan was someone you wanted to play in Street Fighter V, for instance, his inclusion will likely make you happy. Inversely, if you didn’t care too much then his inclusion will likely not matter to you.
Regardless, it is good to see that these fighting game developers are still involved in the fighting game community’s activities. Hopefully the new seasons will be welcome additions to already great games.
