Capcom backtracks on SFIV DRM

No doubt fearful of a backlash similar to that suffered by Ubisoft last year, Capcom has announced that it will remove the DRM it had planned for Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition.

The publisher had previously announced that PC players who were not logged into Games for Windows Live would only be able to access a limited number of single player options.

The reasoning was that "SFIV unfortunately was plagued by pirates and hackers that messed up leaderboards".

However, following an outcry on its forums Capcom has now reversed its decision.

"The argument that legitimate users would have a worse experience than pirates was the loudest and most convincing," senior VP Christian Svensson stated. "We certainly don’t want that to be the case and that was never our intention.

"So we’ve heard you loud and clear and here’s what we’re going to do about it:
Shortly after launch (it might even be at launch, but we’ll see how submission timing and approval goes) we will roll out a small title update that will completely remove the character limitations for offline mode.

"That is to say, once you’ve updated, you will be able to use all 39 characters when not connected to the Internet to practice your combo timings, have some fun with a friend on a laptop, or whatever while offline.

"With that hurdle hopefully now cleared, I hope that we can make Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition the most successful fighting game ever on PC. I’d certainly like to continue to grow our audience on the largest platform in the world."