Street Fighter V free on PC for a week ahead of game changes

Capcom is calling all fighter fans to assemble as there’s a free week coming up for Street Fighter V PC players.

The week-long free period will run from 28 March at 1PM PST (9PM GMT)  until 3 April 12 PM (8PM GMT) PST. All current and new fighters will be available to players during this period including the recently-released Kolin,

Why are they doing this? Capcom wants to test out balance adjustments for Season 2 and it will on the Steam version and only includes online modes.

Capcom is also making adjustments to the  Capcom Fighters Network (CFN) which as follows:

• Matchmaking Improvements
  • For most players, it will take less time to find an opponent in online matches. Matchmaking logic will help players avoid being frequently matched with the same opponent.

• Ranked and Casual Match Loading Times
  •  There will be a shorter transition when going into a Ranked or Casual match.

• Interactive Timeline
  • On the new CFN home menu, a live feed of Friends’ activities will be presented on an interactive Timeline. Using the Timeline, players can immediately add a recent match to their Replay List, view a Fighter Profile, manage Friends, and adjust Timeline display settings.

• Friend Management System
  • In addition to adding someone to Favorites, players can now blacklist players or add friends and follow them on CFN.

• “Rage Quit” Penalty System
  • Special “rage quit” player profile icons will appear on profiles with frequent disconnections. Matchmaking logic will take into account online behavior and frequent disconnectors will be matched with similar opponents.

• Training Mode – User Settings Saved
  • Training Mode settings will be saved and will carry over to the next time the mode is accessed.

• Battle Lounge Country Flags
  • Country flags will appear in Battle Lounges, allowing players to locate competition in their region.

• Country / League Based Rankings
  • Players will be able to filter leaderboards based on Country or League.

• In-Game Announcer Voice
  • The in-game announcer will provide players and opponents with stats using data pulled from the server.

• Fighter Profile Stats
  • More detailed stats will be tracked and presented on Fighter Profiles.

If you’ve never tried Street Fighter V this is an ideal opportunity to test your button bashing skills.