For Street Fighter fans eager to test the game's next generation, most didn't even get to throw their first punch.
The much-touted public beta for Street Fighter V was canceled prematurally after days of connection issues made the game nigh unplayable for nearly everyone.
"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 spokesperson Peter Rosas wrote. "After three days of testing, while we were making progress and collecting valuable data, we felt the majority of players were not having a good experience, and the best course of action would be to take the servers offline for extended maintenance. We will be postponing our first beta phase until we believe the experience is going to be a positive one for players."
The PlayStation 4-only beta was promised to fans that pre-ordered Street Fighter V, due out next March. It would give them access to six of the game's revealed characters for five days, and allow them to play matches against other players online. Capcom said the beta was intended to test the game's servers and ability to connect players.
Unfortunately, servers couldn't handle the crush of players right out of the gate, as most people weren't able to connect minutes after the Thursday night start time. Capcom pulled the servers down, eventually only returning them to partial working status for some parts of the world on Saturday, and even then, it was difficult to connect.
This beta.... Glad others are getting in, but oh my god. #StreetFighterV pic.twitter.com/lQJ3kZhH33— Chelsea Stark (@chelseabot) July 25, 2015
Rosas clarified that this test didn't count as the game's public beta, and that would be postponed until a solution could be found. The response on the forum post and Twitter was mixed; some fans said they weren't upset, as betas can be problematic, and others were enraged it didn't work.
So much salt surrounding the #StreetFighterV beta, I could season my burgers and probably have them taste amazing.— Marcus Lawrence (@MarcusLaw26) July 27, 2015
#StreetFighterV #Beta #review @Capcom_UK @NeilGortz pic.twitter.com/asUaQlLSxy— Kama (@Kama_Kamilia) July 27, 2015
So many people crying about the #StreetFighterV beta not working IT'S A BETA! THIS IS WHY THEY DO THEM TO AVOID THESE PROBLEMS AT LAUNCH!— Wicked D (@WickedD365) July 27, 2015
Street Fighter V is due out for PlayStation 4 and PC in March of 2016.