1.4 million sales out of an expected 2 million
Capcom predicted Street Fighter V would move 2 million units by the end of March. It failed to meet that number. Instead, Capcom reports it had sold 1.4 million copies of its new fighter between the PC and PS4 release (including physical and download sales). The PC version only barely moved 100,000 its first week on Steam.
This slow start could have something to do with the game launching with insufficient methods of dealing with “rage quitters” who abandon matches they’re losing and that the actual story mode is still a month off; it’s planned for a June launch, while players have found the single-player content as-is to be lacking. Guile just showed up, at least.
The numbers aren’t bad, mind. Street Fighter IV has only sold 3.4 million to date — that’s over seven years and an additional platform release. It’s just that they’re less than Capcom had been anticipating. It will be interesting to see if the impending story DLC leaves wary folks finally pulling the trigger, or if the interest-ship has sailed. But with EVO around the corner, I don’t necessarily expect the latter. Still, it’s clear Capcom didn’t kick off Street Fighter V with its best footsies forward. Things may improve, but additional interest could be hard won.