Wondering when you'll get to pound in Ryu's face in as Frankenstein Charlie Nash? Capcom's barely said a word about Street Fighter 5's release date up until this point, which makes it extra puzzling and/or amusing that the company appears to have let slip a spring 2016 release window via a PAX East merchandise post.
Before introducing a couple T-shirts and drawstring bags on sale for PAX East attendees, the post states that "everyone is fired up for Street Fighter V coming to the PS4 and PC next Spring". That sounds like a pretty reasonable date to me - it gives Ultra Street Fighter 4 about a year and a half to reign as the fighting champ before ceding the title to its just successor.
Perhaps more importantly, that also puts it at just about seven years after the release of the original Street Fighter 4. That's relatively speedy next to the 11 year stretch between Street Fighter III: New Generation and Street Fighter 4, but it's still quite a while for fighting game fans waiting for the next evolutionary step of the genre's flagship series.
Speaking of which, Street Fighter 5 does look to be more of an evolution than a revolution - at least visually speaking. But it's tough to complain about a refined version of Street Fighter 4's paint-daubed 3D visuals, which remain impressively stylish to this day.
Oh, and don't hold your breath for an Xbox One release window - Capcom says Street Fighter 5 is (console) exclusive to PS4. As for the inevitable Super/Mega/Neo Street Fighter 5, we'll just have to wait and see.
