On Aug. 20, Capcom released an opt-in beta program for the PC version of Ultra Street Fighter 4 via Steam after reports of abnormal online problems, and other glitches that were greatly hampering players' experiences. Several days later, a majority of players are having the same issues.
Ultra Street Fighter 4 was first released digitally on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 via Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. Both console versions have been unhampered by the issues reported by PC gamers. The PC version's bugs can be traced back before the release of Ultra Street Fighter 4 to the poor transition away from Microsoft's problematic PC software, Games For Windows Live.
Games for Windows Live is a software that many game developers used to avoid using resources to build an online PC interface from the ground up. Microsoft provided GFWL to several games such as Batman:Arkham Asylum, Resident Evil 5, and the Street Fighter 4 series. GFWL was a headache for players because of poorly implemented DRM, below average multiplayer experience for games across the board, and a multitude of other issues.
In January 2014, Microsoft announced that GFWL would be discontinued at the end of July. Many gamers rejoiced but others were concerned they would be unable to boot up their games, let alone play online. In May 2014, Capcom changed the Street Fighter 4 series from GFWL to Steamworks, Valve's superior equivalent to the GFWL service. Everyone rejoiced. The rejoicing fell to a whimper once the transition to Steamworks took place - the online experience was terrible for almost everyone. Capcom representatives explained that they were aware of the problems and were seeking solutions.
Unfortunately, the release of Ultra Street Fighter 4 has seen additional problems such as erratic frame rates during offline play and freezing menus. The opt-in beta has done little to relieve the frustration of many players who shared their thoughts on Steam's forums.
"With the beta update, I start to experience lag spikes on EVERY SINGLE ROUND AND MATCH!!!" reported Steam user, twitch.tv/voidsource. "I get the same deal as before, lag spikes constant on every round of every game. It was unavoidable. This beta patch just made it worst for me."
Others have been extremely happy with the results.
"I went online on the USIV beta and the online experience was much better than what I have been experiencing recently with AE/Ultra," said Steam user, HypaRW. "The overall online quality was better, with little, if at all, the problems of spontaneous freezing compared to before."
Capcom will definitely figure out how to fix these problems in the near future, but this serves a reminder that creating a great online experience is very difficult even for gaming greats.
