Street Fighter 5 March Update Release Date Confirmed, DLC Characters Free Until Real Money Shop Added

Capcom has announced the release date of Street Fighter 5's March Update, along with details on the tweaks and additions the eagerly anticipated update will introduce. It has also revealed that the game's first DLC character, Alex, will be free while the microtransaction system is properly implemented.

The March update will come in two parts, the first will be delivered on March 28 and will contain Challenge Mode, Trials, the online rematch option, improvements to the Battle Lounge, and various bug fixes. The second part will arrive on March 30 at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET/5 PM GMT and add Alex to the roster of fighters, as well as the in-game shop.

Capcom has said Zenny (currency purchased with real money) will not be integrated into the in-game shop in the March update. As a result, Alex and additional costumes would have only been unlockable by grinding out fights and accruing the necessary Fight Money to purchase them. Street Fighter 5 Season Pass owners would also have not automatically unlocked them.

To compensate for this, Alex "will be available for free as a trial period to all players, until the Zenny shop launches."

Capcom explained further: "This also will apply to any future DLC character that releases prior to the Zenny shop launching. Once the Zenny shop launches, the free trial for any DLC characters that released prior to the Zenny shop opening will end, and players will need to either use Fight Money, Zenny, or the Season Pass to access those characters."

When the Zenny shop launches, Alex will be cost 100,000 Fight Money (Street Fighter 5's in-game currency), while character costumes will be 40,000 each.

"We have taken a long hard look at this part of the store, and after much review, have decided it is not ready to launch just yet," Capcom added. "As Zenny is purchased with real money, we wanted to be extra careful and make sure it’s fully tested and optimized before launching it. There is currently no ETA on the Zenny store and we will release it as soon as it’s ready."

Full details on both parts of the update can be found below:

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March 28

• Challenge Mode
  • Demonstrations: Learn the ins and outs of Street Fighter 5 through helpful demonstration and tutorial content. Contains content for each of the 16 characters, as well as advice geared towards players of all skill levels:
    • Beginner Tutorials: 12 lessons covering, movement, normal attacks, special attacks, V-System, throws, counter hits, chip/recoverable damage, etc.
    • Intermediate Tutorials: 11 lessons covering projectiles, invincibility frames, armor and armor break, recovery, cross-up attacks, anti-air options, etc.
    • Advanced Tutorials: 4 lessons covering back dashing, frame advantage/disadvantage, combo potential, button priority, etc. Character Tutorials: 16 lessons covering each individual character. from basic to pro combos. Completing Trials will also earn you some extra Fight Money.
• Trials: Put your skills to the ultimate test with combo trials for all 16 characters, ranging
• Online Rematch Option: Salty from a close loss online? Want revenge? Players can now play a 2/3 set in Ranked Match and Casual Matches, provided both players accept the rematch.
• Battle Lounge Improvements: Enjoy up to 8 person lobbies, complete with match spectating.
• Bug fixes and gameplay balancing: Various game bugs have been fixed, along with minor gameplay balancing. For more details please see this post.

March 30

• Alex + related character story content
• In-Game Shop
• Fight Money Expenditure: Spend your hard earned Fight Money to purchase extra game content, such as DLC characters (100,000 FM each) and the Story Mode Costumes (40,000 FM each).

Alex is just the first DLC character for Street Fighter 5. Others coming in the future include Guile, Balrog, Ibuki, Juri, and Urien. In addition to characters, Capcom will add a free story mode in June.