Though most fans would also probably rather see the Fighter Coin system removed entirely
One of the most annoying aspects of modern gaming is the prevalence of premium currencies that force players to spend more money than they want to while obfuscating the whole process, but at least one fighting game is taking a step in a better direction.
With Street Fighter 6’s July update, Capcom changed up how their Fighter Coin system works quite a bit to the benefit of the players, mostly.
The company added five new tiers to their Street Fighter 6 Fighter Coin offerings, which helps users buy specific types of content more easily.
Those new bundles are 50 FC ($1.49), 60 FC ($1.99), 130 FC ($3.99), 300 FC ($5.99) and 350 FC ($6.99).
Previously, Street Fighter 6 only had four different Fighter Coin packages at 250 FC ($4.99), 610 FC ($11.99), 1,250 FC ($23.99) and 2,750 FC ($49.99).
This was problematic because much of the game’s primary extra content did not nicely fit into any of those categories.
New characters are 350 FC, costumes are generally 300 FC (besides Outfit 2 at 50 FC), and things like costume colors, music packs, and New Challenger customization options were all over the place under 250 FC.
That means players would have to shell out at least $10 for what should be a $7 character or a $6 outfit, and you’d then be stuck with the extra leftover currency sitting there.
• 50 FC ($1.49)
• 60 FC ($1.99)
• 130 FC ($3.99)
• 250 FC ($4.99)
• 300 FC ($5.99)
• 350 FC ($6.99)
• 610 FC ($11.99)
• 1,250 FC ($23.99)
• 2,750 FC ($49.99)
You could of course spend that on something smaller like we mentioned above, but users shouldn’t be forced to do that if they only wanted one specific thing in the game to begin with.
So these new bundles are at least more player friendly in that they allow us to buy exactly what we need for DLC like characters and costumes without the extra steps and excess spending.
Street Fighter 6’s Fighter Coin packs were pretty stingy too compared to many other games that offer larger bonuses for buying the more expensive options.
Since the general going rate is $1 equals 50 Fighter Coins, you’d only get $0.20, $1, or $5 worth of extra in-game cash for going above the base $5 pack.
Those normal exchange rates are kept for the 300 FC and 350 FC packs thankfully, however, you’ll technically be spending a bit more for those new smaller ones.
Like we mentioned before, the 50 FC pack is $1.49 and not $1. The 60 FC pack is $1.99 instead of $1.20, and the 130 FC pack is $3.99 instead of $2.60.
So while those new higher bundles are fine, players are going to have to weigh if the smaller ones are really worth the extra premium up front.
Their 130 FC bundle seems especially weird since you can spend a dollar more and get nearly double the currency.
While this is a step in the right direction, Capcom probably isn’t making the change out of the goodness of their heart.
These new Fighter Coin tiers were possibly or likely introduced to try and avoid any issues with the European Union’s consumer protection laws and regulations that are trying to crack down on how publishers handle in-game currencies.
One of those policies published last year includes encouraging the ability to purchase the exact amount of currency needed for single items and not forced overcharging like Street Fighter 6 had been for the past three years.
As far as we know, Capcom wasn’t getting into any trouble with the EU over these practices (yet), but maybe felt it was better to go ahead and change things to avoid the governing body’s potential ire.
While the days of earning most content through in-game unlocks are long gone, most of us would probably rather return to the previous era where we could just buy DLC with our money one-to-one without jumping through these crappy extra hoops for no tangible benefit to the average user.
These premium currencies don’t appear to be going anywhere, unfortunately, and Street Fighter 6 isn’t alone here considering other major titles like Tekken 8, 2XKO, and Mortal Kombat 1 do the same thing.
They obfuscate the content you’d normally intend to buy, which can make many not want to engage with the practice at all.
This is just a personal anecdote on my part, but I’ve played Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links for many years now.
Konami previously let you just buy packs and accessories with regular money, so I’d often times drop $2 or $3 every month or so to get extra cards, which has changed over the past year.
Now that Duel Links switched to a premium Crystal currency, however, I’ve only bought the discounted introductory bundles and have no real interest in getting more.
This has personally carried over to Street Fighter 6 for me too.
I spent a lot of money on Street Fighter 5 DLC when I could just buy things straight up, but in Street Fighter 6, I’ve purchased Fighter Coins only two times in three years to get a whole two costumes (and even then I waited until they were on sale).
So while these game companies are probably raking in more money off of some players willing to spend on the big bundles, there are certainly others who don’t want to even bother now for content they’d otherwise be interested in.
At least Street Fighter 6 has improved their offerings to actually benefit the playerbase more, even if they potentially didn’t exactly make that decision of their own volition.
We’ll see if other fighting games follow suit and how the market evolves in general, but hey, at least a $7 character is now just $7 again like it used to be in the good old days of five years ago.
