Why UMVC3 is coming out only 9 months after MVC3

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 1 November, 2011

And why it's not DLC.

2D fighting game Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 launches only nine months after Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Why so soon?

It's to do with "things most gamers don't care about, even though they're realities that affect every gamer's life," Capcom fighting guru Seth Killian told Eurogamer. That is, corporate release schedules and legal contracts.

"Marvel is a big company that has their own schedule of licenses with windows," Killian explained. "They have a huge impact on things like that. To have the wide range of characters we've been able to have in the game...

"We have the license for this specific game, but other companies outside of Capcom have licenses for other Marvel games that impinge. So we have to find specific times where we're able to release products. It's on the Capcom side and on the Marvel side."

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, due out this month, is just one of a number of games based on Marvel comics to launch this year.

After Capcom launched MVC3 in February, Sega released Thor, then Captain America. Activision's recently released Spider-Man: Edge of Time, developed by Beenox, and X-Men: Destiny, created by Silicon Knights, followed.

And after the launch of UMVC3, more Marvel video games will release. Activision, with developer Beenox, will launch a new Spider-Man game around July 2012 to tie in with the new Spider-Man movie.

"I don't ask anybody to feel sympathetic about that," Killian added. "These kinds of corporate realities and legal contracts and things like that shape all of our lives whether we like it or realise it or not."

But if UMVC3 has to release in November, why not launch it as downloadable content - or, as with Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition, as downloadable content and a standalone disc?

According to Killian, that's down to the East versus West cultural divide.

"Japan is still very much not a DLC market. DLC sales in general in Japan are vastly lower than they are here, even with popular games. DLC is not as much of a going concern. And online gaming in general is a lower adoption rate. The percentage of people playing any given title online in Japan is much lower.

"Capcom has had different schools of thought internally. You've seen on the Street Fighter front has been a little more on the DLC side. But even on the Arcade Edition there was a balance there where they did do a disc release but they also made it available as DLC.

"Capcom obviously has strong roots in the disc based tradition. That's the way most games are sold in Japan, so this is the way to approach it naturally. Clearly they're active in a global market, but are putting their toes in the water of shifting tastes for consumers in other places. Having just an all DLC release would be considered a strange move in Japan. Having an all DLC release would be odd."

Thankfully, it looks like Capcom is listening to fans when it comes to the way its games are released.

"The Marvel team had slightly different ideas than the Street Fighter team, so they're always going in different directions. But it's a piece of feedback from the Western side at least we've been very clear about, saying there's a lot of talk saying we would like to have this as a DLC option rather than a disc based release.

"Of course there are people here who still like the disc based release, collectors and people who just appreciate the disc who are worried if they're not able to go online then the game won't work.

"There's some from both camps. It's a developing process for Capcom."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 7 months ago

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  • Velios #1 7 months ago

    This went straight to the top of my MUST BUY list...

  • i5killz #2 7 months ago

    I've still not opened the original game yet. I got it alongside LA Noire back in the summer, so certainly won't be picking this up, unless a DLC option does appear.

  • CounterPunch #3 7 months ago

    Capcom always do this, charge full price for a few tweaks and some new characters. Street fighter 4 arcade edition was an exception to the rule.

  • spudsbuckley #4 7 months ago

    This is the Str

  • spudsbuckley #5 7 months ago

    This is the Street Fighter business model. They can't blame licensing issues when they even do the same thing with their own games containing their own characters.

  • Beano #6 7 months ago

    Why UMVC3 is coming out only 9 months after MVC3:
    "We already spent the money on whores and drugs."

    And why it's not DLC.:
    "We need to rape the clueless fans as much as possible and by selling it as a more expensive retail disc only, it will make it sound more than as a minor update (which it is, but don't tell anyone)."

  • Whitster #7 7 months ago

    To be honest given that I play the game more in multiplayer around friends houses I'm glad theres the disc based option that saves me lugging a whole console there every time, that said there should be DLC option for those that want it as well.

    In terms of the lisencing excuse, I'm pretty sure none of the new Marvel characters are tied up in any other games and surely the lisenceing agreements for the original characters should encompass re-releases?

  • Ironic_War_Criminal #8 7 months ago

    Going to repost my post from the Saturday Soapbox comments since it's relevant
    The thing about fighting games is they work somewhat like Madden or FIFA where fans want new updates to it's roster and balance but want to keep the core gameplay the same, especially in Japan. Thats why there are updates and no company is immune to it, be it Arc Sys, SNK or Capcom (Also the practical element of having disc copies for tournaments. It's not unusual for some community members to have 3 or 4 disc copies of the same game "Just in case". DRM prevents you doing that with DLC). Updates are necessary to keep the game fresh and familiar and in a lot of modern cases, the feedback has allowed companies to design characters around metagames and strategies players have found out while giving a re-tune to characters in the previous iteration. It's worked over the years and fans of the genre are used to it.

    It's not going to stop entitled nerds unfamiliar with the genre to scream how much they are being fucked about because companies should be giving them everything for free or delaying games for months to release the content (The re-introduction of fighting games to the mainstream has also been a significant culture shock since it's a significantly different culture to mainstream VG culture), but theres a reason why those invested in the genre will tell someone to fuck off if they complain about a significant update to a game like Marvel Vs Capcom 3 in such a small time frame. It's not the shortest time frame for a major update (Street Fighter III to SF3: 2nd Impact holds the record with 6 months), but it's one made with significant player input and content and even with the short time frame, it's a worthy purchase to them because of the amount in that.

    Not that they wont call out bad business practices either. Arc Systems has been raked over the coals by their own fanbase across the world for trying to pass off a pretty terrible BlazBlue update with only one new character as worth $40/£25 and there is a general worry of going back to the bad old days where every company had to shove out revisions every six months to hold onto precious arcade floor space (And still do. Sega went through around 10 different revisions of Virtua Fighter 5 and are still going), even though it's through consoles. But at the same time, games like UMvC3 have been made with significant community input and there is a general feel of the process getting better. So while those unfamiliar with the genre will gnash their teeth and claim that companies are "Fucking them" in some sort of ridiculous manner, those familiar with it will simply carry on as they like. They put in hundreds of hours into the previous game, the new one is a refresh and value for money for them.

  • roojames #9 7 months ago

    I'm fine with this. It's not full price and the new stuff more than compensates for the pricetag. Not worth it for a casual gamer but for people active in the community, every little tweak to the invincibility frames to an assist or what-have-you is a huge deal, so to have a complete re-balance, plenty new characters and huge shifts in mechanics (air X-Factor also a big thing) is well worth it for me. Anyone who doesn't think so can just not buy it -- the original game is still fun enough for casual players.

  • roojames #10 7 months ago

    What you've also got to understand is Capcom doesn't make things like Call of Duty. They're one of the only large companies out there who still produce games that take at least some skill to pick up. Companies like Activision have absolutely no excuse to charge extortionate prices for their map packs because they're insanely rich, and yet they still end up in these stupid business scandals. Capcom are facing real money troubles nowadays but they still remain as charming and active with the community as ever.

  • paulf #11 7 months ago

    Marvel may have loads of games coming out, but this is the only one worth buying

  • asphaltcowboy #12 7 months ago

    Screw you Capcom.

  • Ishmail #13 7 months ago

    Good post Ironic_War_Criminal. I always wonder whether most of the cry babies actually even like these games, or maybe they just buy them for the garbage single player modes and give up after 3 hours.

    Even though the original mvc3 release was a bit shoddy in some ways if you someone who actually likes playing the game and plays with other people all the time then you got huge value for money for your purchase, and even just the system and balance tweaks to the same formula are enough to get hype about.

    For everyone saying "wahhh! I have to buy update now when I really wanted to wait a year for it etc" you have someone on srk analysing every reveal trailer to death and posting stuff like "OMG ROCKET RACOON TOO MUCH HYPE! MY BODY WASN'T READY!"

  • Der_tolle_Emil #14 7 months ago

    I think they are offering more than enough content to justify a disc release. There is more than enough new content - the problem is all the new stuff that is not that obvious for the average player. The amount of work that went into balancing is a lot and offers far, far more than your average patch.

    Besides, comparing the price of the game and the price of 2400 ms points you pretty much end up paying 200 points for each of the new characters, which is not bad value at all. At least this way you get everything in one package and don't risk splitting the player base just because not everything has the additional characters als DLC (do you really want to download ~1gb of data for something you cannot even play with?).

  • C.CFanboy #15 7 months ago

    I'm gutted Capcom have done this. I didn't have a single complaint with the first version. Lack of modes? Don't care its more fun to play than MVC 2. Phoenix spammers? Makes me laugh so hard all in good fun. Sentinel nerf? Don't know why he needed it but there you go. Hsien-Ko needing a buff? Why are people saying that? I use her all the time perfectly fine. Taking ages to connect to a match? Don't care its worth getting spammed at. No vs CPU? I have a brother to play with and if I wanted to take on the CPU I'd play arcade mode. You name it I didn't complain at it.

    Then the second this came up I felt betrayed. I didn't complain once. I took the events as they were coming up at me. I held my silence despite the fact I was as eager as anyone to get more content. Am I surprised it happened? No. But that doesn't stop me feeling back stabbed.

    I paid a premium price for what is essentially a full demo. What am I supposed to do with it now? Whats even more infuriating for me is you added Ghost Rider and Firebrand! These are two characters I really wanted. Not to mention Doctor Strange. GR was planned to be in anyway. You've upset a person who never complained at anything in that game Capcom. And the worst thing of all? You don't even try to deny there could be a third version anymore. They admitted to cutting stuff just to rush it out.

    I blame these guys asking for more all the time. I would happily wait if it meant a better game.

  • roojames #16 7 months ago

    @C.CFanboy The game was buggy as hell and imbalanced!

  • Bilstar #17 7 months ago

    Come off it Mr Capcom, we all see what's going on here.

  • Ryze #18 7 months ago

    Fucking excuses. Sort yourselves out, as you'll not get another disc-based penny from me on this franchise.

    Pre-owned all the way - so keep shooting yourselves in the foot. Then I reckon I'll trade in my MvC3 so you lose out on another sale.

    Then maybe trade in all of my other Capcom games so you lose out on more sales.

    How great is that business model, eh? You've made your games disposable, and unessential.

  • A_Nonny #19 7 months ago

    Isn't MvC far more popular in the west than in Japan? Why does it matter that Japan isn't big on DLC when they barely play this game?

  • WAusJackBauer #20 7 months ago

    How about they explain why Megaman isn't in it?

  • C.CFanboy #21 7 months ago

    @Ishmail I cannot believe this. I played this game to death. So where do I go from here. I want a few of those Marvel characters and Firebrand. I want DLC which I was promised. But this interview is basically telling me I've wasted my money.

    I want Firebrand. How come this specific version gets these characters and DLC packs modes, costumes etc. Why can't I have these in my old version as well?

    Oh you want Firebrand and DLC? Tough sh!t! buy this version or you don't get anything. We're done with the game you've played for months.
    Edited by C.CFanboy at 01/11/11 @ 12:32

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #22 7 months ago

    @CounterPunch Actally it's a half price release and it's not just a handful of characters there is a lot more modes as well..

    The game itself I'd say is good value - but that said it's no better then a Platinum title/GOTY coming out after the original with all the DLC at a lower price point...

  • SomaticSense #23 7 months ago

    You know, if they stuck to one excuse for the moneygrubbing, I'd be more inclined to believe it.

    "Waaah waaah waaah" The game engine isn't DLC compatible.

    "Blah blah blah" The tsunami meant we had to put more work into a developing a retail title than just producing DLC. (Erm, what? This makes sense how?)

    "Yadda yadda yadda" We can't clash with other Marvel license holders. (Um, releasing pretty much alongside X-Men Destiny nips this particular excuse in the bud. And this is also no excuse for the retail release so soon after boggo MvC3)

    "Spew spew spew" It's not culturally compatible for DLC in Japan. (Um, pretty much most other Capcom games have had DLC, including MvC3. And no doubt we'll get the usual swamping of extra character colours anyway)

    You're right, I feel fuck all sympathy. But I wouldn't be quite so annoyed if the story didn't keep changing every month to justify it. If I had a string of separate excuses each day for one incident at work, my boss would quite rightly sack my arse for bullshitting.
    Edited by SomaticSense at 01/11/11 @ 14:08

  • DAN.E.B #24 7 months ago

    How about they explain why Megaman isn't in it?

    No thats next years addition!

  • Ironic_War_Criminal #25 7 months ago

    @Ryze

    How great is that business model, eh? You've made your games disposable, and unessential.

    Pro-Tip: Stop playing fighting games. You are clearly not getting any enjoyment out of them and you will never be compatible with their business model.

    In fact, by your standards, Namco should stop using animations in Tekken 6 they animated well back in 1998 for Tekken 3 and Sega should do the same with the animations in VF 5 (Hell, since VF1, there have only been around 9 characters added to the franchise).

    In fact, one of the most revered and praised fighting games of all time is King Of Fighters '98. A game that had only one single original sprite made for the game, and even then, it was only the traditional new costume for Athena. Yet it was a highly playable and highly perfectionist fighting game that is still popular in China and considered SNK's masterwork before the Playmore era.

    If you can't get over that updates in the genre are based off practice seeing how players adapt. Stop playing. Go to a different genre. Every company does this. Sega, Namco, SNK, Arc AND Capcom. Hell, Arc Sys released BlazBlue CT and CS within 6 months of each other in the Europe region and there was nowhere near the spectacular amount of bellyaching there is over UMvC3 with that.

    @C.CFanboy

    I paid a premium price for what is essentially a full demo.

    And by that logic, every fighting game before hand was also a full price demo (Regardless of the inanity in the term "full demo" ). The development team has admited that seeing the massive amount of video has helped them develop UMvC3's changes including Phoenix Wright's metagame. Again, if you feel "betrayed" by this game, it's in your best interest to just stop playing fighting games as well, actually. This is how the system works, get used to it or get out.
    Edited by Ironic_War_Criminal at 01/11/11 @ 19:59

  • Moribund_Cadaver #26 7 months ago

    First, here's a pragmatic point being overlooked by many people:

    This game is not being sold at "full price".

    The amount of DLC required to equate the new content in UMVC3 would surpass the price of this disc based release.

    Let's look at that again.

    If the 12 new characters alone - not counting a full rebalance, new stages, new modes, Heroes & Heralds - had been released at the typical DLC price for characters, they would have cost you, the end user, MORE MONEY.

    So. Who's actually getting "screwed" here?

    People who pay less by buying the new content on a physical disc?

    Or people who would have paid more for the same content if it had been DLC?

    Spoiler: saying "it should all be free!" is not a valid answer. Creating fighting game characters and testing them is expensive. This is not Team Fortress 2. It is not being subsidized as a marketing experiment for Steam.

    Really, the arguments should end there. Life happened, game got updated, people who want to play the new version are paying less in this particular case than if it'd been DLC.

    I won't bother repeating what several others have stated here as the voices of reason; gamers are cheap, want to imagine they're being screwed even when they're not so they can whine, they don't grasp fighting games, etc etc.

  • rotsujin #27 7 months ago

    That might make sense if 90% of the copies of MvC3 across both platforms weren't sold outside of Japan, Seth, you fucking moron.

    Source VGChartz. 1.4 million total sales, 140 thousand copies in Japan. If you smoke cess in the west, nobody gives a shit what the market is like in Japan.

  • Ironic_War_Criminal #28 7 months ago

    @rotsujin Source VGChartz.

    Way to completely invalidate your point in two words.

  • Capt.VonHell #29 7 months ago

    I'm sure this has more or less been mentioned already, but EA and FIFA have been doing this for years, and people have ate it up and never complained about it. Not that I'm justifying what Capcom have done, it's shit marketing practice, but it just seems a little bit like irony or one rule and one for another.
    Edited by Capt.VonHell at 02/11/11 @ 10:48