‘Street Fighter V’ Quietly Does Away With Its In-Game Advertising Program

Earlier this month, Capcom riled up several fans of its fighting game Street Fighter V by announcing a promotion that would earn them additional fight currency for allowing in-game advertising. But it appears that the program wasn't built to last, as it's been done away with it rather quickly. At least, for now.

A report from Eventhubs points out that the advertising and promotions for Street Fighter V are no longer running. It noted, "Trying to select colors 3-10 on an 'Ad Style' costume will currently give the error message, 'The sponsor is currently not available, so you cannot use the selected color.' On top of that, loading screen and stage advertisements have also been turned off."

There was a lot of negative feedback from fans with the program, even though it was optional. There is a chance that the publisher changed its mind with the advertisements based on said feedback, but it hasn't spoken officially on the matter.

But keep in mind that this may be temporary, and the ads may return. The company has spoken in the past about how ads will "change intermittently," and "if a sponsorship is not available at the time and you selected any colors from 3-10 of the Ad Style in your battle settings, you will be forced to use colors 1 and 2." New sponsors may be getting slotted in as well, since that's pretty common with most sports teams nowadays.

The game's producer, Yoshinori Ono, has said he's been paying close attention to the feedback surrounding the campaign, which was put in place to help Capcom earn additional revenue. The company has been struggling to break even with Street Fighter V since its release a few years back, as it launched with only a small portion of content, resulting in angry fans and poor sales.

It's since made good on its promises with this year's Arcade Edition, along with new fighters joining the fray including familiar favorites like Blanka and Sagat. But obviously, Capcom wanted to see what more it could get out of the release, besides its Capcom Pro Tour and Capcom Cup tournaments.

We've reached out to the publisher to see if it had any comment on whether the program is gone for good or simply taking a hiatus. We'll let you know when we hear anything back on the matter.

Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition is available now for PlayStation 4 and PC.

(Hat tip to EventHubs for the scoop!)