During a recent question and answer streaming session the most celebrated fighting game professional on the planet, BST|Daigo Umehara, offered some of his thoughts on the politics of balancing fighting games, a practice that’s really only been around in its current form for the last 13 years or so.
Trying to tease out aspects of a Street Fighter entry that’re actually over or under-powered versus what players simply need to spend more time with is no easy task, and trying to get a game so well balanced that it’s universally praised seems nigh impossible. Daigo feels that influential figures in the community need to actively help developers in this arena, and simultaneously not be overly political about trying to influence selfish changes.
“As far as Street Fighter 6 is concerned,” he starts, “it’s such a well made game, and the developers have evolved so much, so I figured they probably don’t need us to speak up that much… But now I’m sure that’s not the case.
“I think they probably don’t have a grasp on what characters are strong; the devs can’t grasp that on their own. That’s why it’s important for people of influence to voice their opinions,” says Daigo.
Indeed Street Fighter 6 does seem to be the franchise entry with the most foresight and thoughtfulness placed on individual and general character balance yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect.
Daigo mentions how surprised the community was during the span of Street Fighters 4 and 5 when certain overpowered abilities were surprisingly not attended to for long swaths of time (we’re looking at you, Seasons 2-4 Cammy and Rashid).
Indeed, Street Fighter 6 Director Takayuki Nakayama recently shared how the Street Fighter 5 dev team supposed that Alex was the strongest character in the game.
“I love watching the tier lists that players put out,” Nakayama told Inside-Games. “Those are totally different from our thoughts internally. Even with Street Fighter 5, our views never aligned with the players even at the end.
“Most people seemed to consider Luke the strongest, but on our development team what if I told you that we actually thought that Alex was at the top? We don’t talk about this stuff because then it comes off as an ‘official statement’, but it’s interesting,” he said.
For those unaware, Alex was long regarded as being so low tier that he was near joke status for the majority of SF5’s life. He was buffed consistently, likely due to near constant fan outcry, but said buffs never seemed to amount to enough to give him an honest chance in the competitive realm.
Tune in to the full video below to hear all of what Daigo has to say about the role of notable FGC members influencing modern game balancing practices. He takes particular issue with those who remain silent in the hopes their character will benefit despite seeing something they honestly feel is overly weak or strong.
Do you agree with Daigo’s thoughts and assessments here? Chime into the comments after you watch and share your opinions as we continue to hold and broadcast important conversations in the direction of developers.
