It’s been quite the struggle for fighting game fans hoping to participate in the Street Fighter V beta, which was supposed to be up and running several days ago on July 23rd. The beta began not with the sweet sounds of Ken Masters shouting “Shoryuken”, but rather to the collective cries of players not being able to get past the “Press Start” screen. It then seemed to start functioning for a limited amount of folks until it was taken down completely by Capcom. The beta will remain down until Capcom can “believe the experience is going to be a positive one for players”. As of now, there has been no date or estimate for when we can expect the beta to go live. Capcom extended their sincerest apology for the debacle in a recent public statement:

“Capcom offers its sincerest apologies to everyone who participated in this first beta test. While the purpose of a beta is to work out these type of issues, it was very clear that the issues we faced were more severe than we were prepared for,” Capcom’s Peter ‘ComboFiend’ Rosas states. “To be clear, this first beta test attempt will not count toward our previously announced beta test allotments. There will still be at least three full beta tests prior to the game’s launch. So for those in the Americas that feel disappointed that they were not able to experience their pre-order incentive, there will be plenty of opportunities prior to launch to experience the game.”

I, personally, have been trying my damnedest to keep on the positive side of this entire mess. You have to respect the folks at Capcom for going the beta testing route for the first time; it means that they understand the importance of the online component of their games, and they are taking the extra steps to improve the netcode of the title before it launches. Having a non-functioning beta has been a disappointing revelation, but it’s better to experience these issues now as opposed to on day one of the game’s release. Consider this thwarted attempt at a beta the lesser of two evils.

But are you too angry to let Capcom slide for what’s transpired over the last few days? Or are you grateful to be experiencing the problems now rather than later? Flash kick your thoughts on the Street Fighter V beta into the comments below.

[HT: Capcom]