Infiltration removed from Panda Global roster, out of 2018, 2019 CPT

Esports team Panda Global and Capcom have both come to separate decisions regarding accusations leveled against Seon-woo "Infiltration" Lee, and as a result he is no longer with Panda Global and he will sit out both the end of the 2018 Capcom Pro Tour and all of 2019.

The accusations center around a post made anonymously in September 2018 accusing Infiltration of domestic violence, infidelity and fraud. An investigation by both organizations found that while some of these allegations can either not be confirmed or are false, Infiltration was charged with "violence" against his ex-wife and forced to pay a fine.

As such, on Nov. 15, 2018, Panda Global issued a statement terminating its contract with Infiltration. Capcom, meanwhile, released a separate statement announcing that "while this incident did not happen during a Capcom Pro Tour event, we do not condone any acts of violence or harassment" and as a first offense has removed Infiltration from the end of Capcom Pro Tour 2018. He will also not participate in the 2019 season.

Panda Global has released the findings of its investigation, complete with the initial charges leveled against Infiltration and the discoveries made by the organization. Readers can look over the results on Scribd.

Capcom Pro Tour 2018 schedule, details unveiled

Capcom has revealed the dates and rules of the upcoming Capcom Pro Tour 2018. As has become the standard, 32 players will qualify for Capcom Cup, with the tour starting at Final Round.

Qualification for Capcom Cup is much like it was in 2017: only six spots at are guaranteed, with four going to regional finals winners, one to a last-chance qualifier at Capcom Cup and the final spot going to reigning champ Mena RD. The other 26 competitors will be decided by the global points leaderboad.

Regional Finals events will see a change in 2018, however, as they will now be broken down into two events: an open-entry tournament that will grant points toward the global and regional leaderboards, as well as a location-restricted Regional Finals Top 8 that will see the players with the highest point totals in that region compete for a spot at Capcom Cup. 

Players can view Capcom's season teaser trailer after the jump, and can find a full breakdown of the 2018 system at the Capcom Pro Tour website, along with the schedule of offline events.

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Capcom Pro Tour 2018 schedule coming Feb. 19, two dates revealed

Capcom has announced the first two Premier events for 2018's Capcom Pro Tour, along with a date when the whole schedule will be available.

The pro tour will once again start with Final Round, as 2018's iteration of the Atlanta major happens on March 16-18. NorCal Regionals will be the second Premier event, taking place from March 30 to April 1 in Sacramento, California.

The rest of the tour's schedule will be released on Feb. 19, and Capcom looks forward to "another year of high level competition on the Capcom Pro Tour with Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition and Season 3."

ComboFiend leaves Capcom

Peter "ComboFiend" Rosas has announced the end of his tenure with Capcom.

In a post on Capcom Unity, Rosas says that he is leaving the company after five years and discusses the impact Capcom titles have had on his life. He also thanks the company for "a dream come true" in being able to work on games that are now in the hands of players. 

Rosas first joined Capcom in late 2012 and has worked on games including Ultra Street Fighter IV, Street Fighter V and Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.

ComboFiend gave no indication of his future plans, only saying that he will return to being "a member of the community" and "a Capcom fan."

Bandai Namco, Capcom begin licensing deal over online matching

Capcom has announced a cross-licensing deal with Bandai Namco targeted at improving online play in versus games like fighters.

According to the company's press release, Capcom's intent with the new agreement is "to improve the user experience while accelerating the production of titles and reducing development costs for both parties."

What this means for players is that Bandai Namco and Capcom will now each have access to some work from the other company, possibly infrastructure, when developing online matchmaking in future products. If that is the case, the companies could build off one another's work to make a more stable online experience while saving money they would each separately use for development costs. However, what exactly is being traded between the two is a mystery for now as Capcom's release is both brief and vague.

This is of course not the first cooperation between the two gaming giants, as the companies have collaborated to create several different titles such as Project X Zone and Street Fighter X Tekken, and Street Fighter's Akuma is a guest fighter in Tekken 7.

Capcom details update to Street Fighter V online, offers free PC beta

Capcom has heard the various complaints about Street Fighter V's online and offline experience and is readying an update in hopes of fixing many of the problems.

In a post on Capcom-Unity, the company has outlined a new update that will address many issues players have had with SFV since the game's release. Among the fixes will be a better friend management system, better stat-tracking, decreased loading times for Ranked and Casual matches, more improvements to the Rage Quit Penalty System and county/league-based rankings. A big offline change will be that Training Mode now saves user settings when they exit the mode.

These features will all be tested in an upcoming PC-only beta happening from March 28-April 3, 2017, and will also include the Season 2 balance changes. The beta will be free for new and existing PC users, with new CFN data created and then deleted at the end of the trial. Players can check out Capcom-Unity for the full list of updates.

Classic Marvel combo exhibition by Izumojin and Magnetro

A new video has revealed more bizarre exploits and interesting system abuses in classic Capcom games.

The 10-minute combo video contains footage from every Marvel fighter Capcom created before MvC3—Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men: Children of the Atom, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom and Marvel vs. Capcom 2—and finds ways to get the most damage out of weird situations.

From 100 percent juggles to upside-down combos, assist abuse and even mini-Spiral, the exhibition is an interesting and sometimes humorous look at the ingenuity of imaginative players. Readers can check out the video below.

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Capcom Cup 2016 live stream and event details released

Capcom has nailed down some of the smaller details for people interested in watching Capcom Cup 2016.

In a post on the official Pro Tour website, the company has listed the tournament bracket, stream schedule and list of commentators and presenters who will be narrating the action. There is also a final trailer and a link to profiles of all 32 competitors.

Capcom Cup takes place Dec. 2-3, 2016, with finals day live from the PlayStation Experience in Anaheim, California.

Capcom Cup 2016 returning to PlayStation Experience on Dec. 3 at Anaheim, CA

The coming Capcom Cup finals will be part of Sony's annual public PlayStation event yet again.

The PlayStation Experience 2016 has been announced for December 3-4 in Anaheim, California, and will play host to Capcom Cup 2016. The top 32 Street Fighter V players from both Premier tournaments and Ranking leaderboards all over the world will meet to see who is the best. The first part of the tournament will start on the 3rd at 6:00pm PST.

Thanks to the sales of Capcom Pro Tour downloadable content for Street Fighter V, the Capcom Cup 2016 prize pool increased to over $300,000 and will grow as the months go by.

If you are looking to attend Capcom Cup, tickets for the PlayStation Experience are on sale now. Single day events will vary ($45 for Saturday and $40 for Sunday) while the full weekend pass will be $60.

Capcom announces DLC costumes, stages for June SFV update

Capcom has revealed the additional costumes and stages that will be available for purchase when the game's June update drops during the last week of the month.

In addition to Ibuki and the new cinematic story mode, three stage variations and a new outfit for each character will be up for sale. Pricing for the DLC will be new characters at $5.99 or 100,000 fight money (fm); new stages for $3.99 or 70,000 fm; alternate stages or story costumes for $1.99 or 40,000 fm; and premium costumes for $3.99.

While the many of the costumes were spoiled by datamining months ago, players can head over to Capcom Unity for a closer look at the content that will soon be available.

Capcom unveils Alex, forthcoming Street Fighter V update details

Alex and a new patch will be showing up later in March, according to a post by Haunts on Capcom Unity. In that post, Haunts gave some details about the returning grappler as well as improvements coming to the game.

For starters, Alex will appear in Street Fighter V as "a methodical grappler who can do big burst damage up close, yet still do well at midrange." His V-Skill seems a modification of his Third Strike taunt, where Alex performs an animation and the next attack will do bonus damage if it hits. Alex's V-Trigger, however, is a brand new option for the character, as he gains access to a clothesline attack that can be charged to parry moves and breaks the opponent's guard if they block.

The update will also add Challenge Mode—complete with various skill-level tutorials and character trials—, eight-player lobbies in Battle Lounge, an online rematch option and allow players to spend their hard-earned Fight Money in the in-game Shop.

Street Fighter V's new update will also add several bug fixes, along with gameplay changes designed to limit the usefulness of possible throw tech option selects. For a complete list of changes, check out Capcom Unity.

Capcom releases details on Street Fighter V 'rage-quit' penalties

A post by Haunts on Capcom Unity has outlined the temporary solution the company will be employing to punish people who are disconnecting early from online ranked games to avoid losing League Points.

Effective immediately, Capcom will be making a weekly sweep of online competitors and those considered problem users with "abnormally high disconnect rates (particularly at the end of the match)" will have their League Points reset. This action will be handled internally without any need of video proof without players.

Haunts also said that Capcom started taking action last week, giving a warning to around 30 players by severly reducing their League Points. There is currently no timetable on a permanent solution to the problem.

Ono: 'Part of the fun is going back to zero'

At Capcom Cup 2015, Vice had a chance to talk to Yoshinori Ono about the upcoming Street Fighter V and its place in the lineage of the series.

Ono did not shy away from talking about the controversial direction that he took Street Fighter IV in, saying that perhaps older players "felt somewhat betrayed" that Capcom focused on making the game more friendly to online play. But he also noted that Street Fighter is a series in which each game does not need to simply add on to the game before it; instead each iteration of the main series has been a gameplay experience unto itself.

In that way, Ono has said that with Street Fighter V "we're going to have to toss [the Street Fighter IV rule book] out the window" as Capcom attempts to reach the exponential community growth it hopes the title will have once it releases in February 2016.

Ono also talked briefly about the challenges of making SFV a more robust online experience, and whether the future of fighting games may reside as much online as it does in person. Readers can check out the full article at Vice.

Dhalsim Joins Street Fighter V, Mystery DLC Characters Announced

Capcom has announced that Dhalsim will be joining the ranks of returning characters in Street Fighter V. Sporting an older look—complete with white beard—the yoga master can now float in midair, lob yoga fire like a grenade and create a flame carpert much like Dormammu.

During the presentation revealing Dhalsim, Yoshinori Ono also showed the shadows of six character who will be added to SFV after the game's release.

For Dhalsim's reveal trailer and the shadowy image (courtesy of Shoryuken), hit the jump.

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Capcom Fighters Network to Boost Online Experience in SFV

Along with the addition of Karin to SFV, Capcom also announced a new online infrastructure for the game: the Capcom Fighters Network. A "community building tool," according to Capcom, CFN will offer many new features to the online experience in Street Fighter V. The service will let players

- See where battles are happening all over the world on a “heat map”
- View player profiles and detailed match statistics
- Designate “rivals” throughout the world and monitor their performance
- Register friends and follow your favorite players
- Search and watch replay files
- Send online battle invitations
- Check out the latest patch and tournament news
- And much more!

Street Fighter V will not only track wins and losses, but also more minute details including number of throws teched and ways that players win a match. Check out a work-in-progress image of CFN after the jump.

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Karin Returns in Street Fighter V

In a presentation at Tokyo Game Show 2015, Capcom revealed that Karin will be joining the Street Fighter V cast.

The addition of Karin adds more credence to the spoiler list that was making its rounds on forums early in summer 2015. If that spoiler holds, expect Street Fighter III: Third Strike's Alex and Urien to return in SFV as well.

Check out Karin's trailer after the jump.

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Capcom Announces Street Fighter V Stress Tests for the Americas

After announcing a group of online stress tests for Street Fighter V that would determine the timing of the next public beta, Capcom has now revealed that North and South America will have their tests on Aug. 25-26, 2015.

The tests will both take place from 4 p.m. to midnight PST, and Combofiend was quick to point out that while Capcom expects the tests to go smoothly players may still run into problems with the online experience. He suggests that, to ensure the best possible quality experience, players try to play on wired connections if possible and to not have any files downloading in the background.

Once these tests are complete, Capcom "will announce the dates and times of the official five-day global beta test."

Street Fighter V Stress Tests to Determine Upcoming Beta Plans

Capcom has announced that they will be performing region-specific stress tests to gather information for the upcoming official global beta.

According to a post on Capcom Unity, these stress tests will begin in Europe from Aug. 20-21 and then be expanded to North America and Asia once Capcom is happy with the results. Once tests have been completed in all regions, the company will roll out plans for the official global beta.

The post also noted that the official beta "will still take place for the previously promised 5 days of time, so the regional stress tests are just an added bonus."

Capcom Apologizes for SFV Beta Problems, Postpones Activity

A new post by Capcom's Peter "ComboFiend" Rosas has addressed the problems players were having during what was supposed to be the first of three public beta tests for Street Fighter V. In his post, ComboFiend says that the company was caught off guard by the weight of the problems and thus could not provide the level of quality it had hoped to give players in North America.

With the problems still lingering, Capcom has decided to take the beta offline until a rescheduled test can take place at the level of the company's expectations. The company will also not count this first attempt as part of the three public betas for the game.

ComboFiend also said Capcom is working on a way to reward players who participated in this first test, but did not have any details to offer players at this time.

Patch for Ultra Street Fighter IV on PlayStation 4 to be Submitted for Certification, Release Date TBA

Following the recent negative reception towards the Ultra Street Fighter IV port on PlayStation 4, work is being done to supress the issues surrounding the version.

Sony Computer Entertainment America's director of third party production Gio Corsi announced that a patch will be submitted for certification on May 29. While the release of the patch is still to be determined, it will be tested to make sure it's ready for public availability. Update notes will also be revealed at a later date.

Other Ocean, the developer behind the port, issued a statement that they are working "with SCEA and Capcom to ensure all current issues are addressed as quickly as possible."

Released on May 26, Ultra Street Fighter IV on PlayStation 4 had players encountering various problems in the game such as the large input lag, menu slowdown, user interface issues, changes to character moves and graphical and audio bugs. Capcom announced that it would cancel use of the PS4 version in upcoming Capcom Pro Tour tournaments until further notice. CPT-sanctioned tournaments, such as the upcoming Community Effort Orlando, can use their preferred console version.