Street Fighter IV sells 86k copies first day in Japan, Capcom says it's sold out

by Griffin McElroy on Feb 13th 2009 9:00PM

Man. Wow. We totally thought this one was going to be a clunker. Seriously, we gave the classic series appropriate fanfare whenever we received any news regarding it, but we were just doing it out of respect. We never thought that the Japanese game consuming populous would snatch up 86,000 copies of Street Fighter IV on its launch day alone. We were thinking it'd be more like a few hundy, maybe a thou by the weekend.

Capcom seems to be just as surprised as we are -- a community manager for the company recently reported that they were "overwhelmed by demand", and that the game had completely sold out in Japan. The only copies within the country's confines rest in a few boxes in Capcom's basement -- they'll apparently be sent out to retailers on Monday, and then snatched up with avarice usually associated with Turboman dolls.

Source

Tags: capcom, sales, street-fighter-iv

Reader Comments (90)

I'm guessing that is sarcasm, because they have been closing arcades left and right in japan.

I may be the only one that doesn't like it. Only 4 new characters (6 if you count the boss and a hidden one)? I don't know why they had to bring back the ENTIRE roster from SF2, either.

The facial expressions on the characters when they are about to be nailed with a super combo are incredible, but that's about the only thing I liked about it. I still wish they would've gone high-res hand drawn 2D. I know KOF is doing that, but I never like how those games animate.

3rd Strike retains the crown, IMO.

You're not alone dood. I don't like Street Fighter IV either. (mostly the art-style) I'm waiting for King of Fighters XII and BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger. Me likes the 2-D sprites!

I have the Japanese version and must say that it easily lived up to my expectations. The graphics are awesome and very fluid, the sound and music are like the good ol' SF2 days but revamped enough not to sound totally retro. I love it alot right now. I personally wish though that there was more character customization like the Soul Calibur series, as Soul Calibur 4 was amazing also. Very good 2D/3D fighting game and will definately hold me over for awhile.

Well, at least it sold better than Tatsunoko vs Capcom. It's a shame cause I actually rather enjoyed the game.
Ah well, I'm anxious as all get-out for this game's release next week (Got both the 360 and PS3 LE's so I can game it up with all my buds).
If anyone on here wants to play, let me know.
PSN: heyo007
Xbox Live: heyo007

only 86K, gears did like 7x that or more in a day, i cant even calculate it. Lets just say it was a LANDSLIDE

Gears of War sold 33,212 in its first week... so, yeah, no.

Nice

I think SF4 actually might contend for best selling game in 09 this year. If a COD6 comes out it probably will still sell more, but I expect SF4 to be in the top 5 best selling games.

I played this when I was in Japan a few months ago. It's soooo good. Only 4 more days! I can hardly wait!

I wonder how many of those were imported here

"I think they are going with the wii Strategy."

I'm hoping you're joking (I mean jesus, any idiot who took high school business could tell that that whole 'supply in demand' idea isn't what's keeping the Wii selling)

in case you are, they only produced 86k copies because the game has been out in arcades there for a while

Really debating on if I want to drop $130 for the Hori stick. The 360 dpad just won't cut it but I don't want the PS3 version for some unknown reason. *sigh*

I *just* got the Mad Catz Street Fighter IV Tournament Stick today, and it is AMAZING. If anything, pick that one up - it's $20 more, but totally worth it.

@phobic

for some unkown reason wont cut it. Get it on the ps3. Better controls if you arent getting the stick.

Meh it shouldn't matter PS3 and 360 D-Pads are both terrible for SF....Sony controller gives THUMB BURN and 360 D-Pad is to damn STIFF...Either way we ALL should be investing in those Mad Catz controllers.

@ExMcCloud

Thumb burn? Wimp =P

My dpad's worn pretty smooth because of HD Remix, no problems with it.

I would, however, rather have all six buttons on one side, instead of 4 face + 2 triggers. Other than that though, the dpad is fine and easy as hell to use.

Hmmmm...I must say that's impressive especially for a fighting game...Yet again Capcom will sell through initial pressed copies and NOT send out anymore to create the SF aurora that surrounds the Capcom Vs. SNK series, Marvel Vs. Capcom series, and every other SF game ever....Prepare for people to be pissed off because they can't find SF...lmao...SF4 should and WILL continue the trend...Buy SF day one or be left out in the cold.......No but seriously guys buy it I need people to play online with.

Fighting games were meant with real friends not the fake ass ones you met when playing Bomberman online that sound like 14 year old girls.

$60 for a fighting game, lol.

Did I miss the sarcasm or something? You gave the classic series fanfare only out of respect? You thought this would be a clunker? Street Fighter?? Are we talking about the same game here? Street..Fighter? This is a sarcastic article, right? I'm just overreacting?

It's a sad thing to do but I'm going to have to pass on this game until April. I just don't have the time to play many games at the moment. I'm a big Street Fighter fan but this game is the last thing I need at the moment when I'm so busy with school.

Still I'm really happy it did well in Japan. I hope it does very good business worldwide. I love the series. And 4 looks killer.

This just strikes me as amazingly stupid on Capcom's part. Even if they hadn't sold 86K on day one, couldn't they have at least forseen that the game would sell that many over the course of the first two or three days? So how many are they going to ship here in the US? Surely they're not going to pull the same ignorant stunt.

Umm... Joystiq. How you can be suprised? SF has been one of the most popular games of all time. This is the first true "update" to the game. Sure they release many other SF games but they all looked the same. (Minus the crappy 3D Tekken SF game years ago, forget the name)

"This is the first true "update" to the game. Sure they release many other SF games but they all looked the same."

So much wrong said with such brevity. Well done, you're a credit to stupidity.

Not entirely wrong. He surely meant mostly a graphical update.

I honestly thought that was a little low.

God this wait is killing me. A friend of mine and me have been playing SF Anniversary for the original xbox to get ready. Just going at it for an hour a day. And its helped me realized that I must buy the Mad Catz pad. Even with the controls , SF3:Third Strike has been making me go nuts wanting SF4. I'm fucking rambling about nothing right now.

Out of respect? Meh, you are short sighted and seeing the bigger picture here.

I meant NOT seeing the bigger picture.... meh

Didn't CheapyD debunk this already?

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=6482

and

http://twitpic.com/1h8z8

are those gang signs on Ryu's belt?

CheapyD off of cheapassgamer says it's not sold out and posted this pic this morning on twitter as proof:

http://twitpic.com/1h8z8

Yeah I wonder if the sales numbers are accurate since the sold out claim isn't.

The real question is why is that so damn expensive? That is $91 with the current exchange rate. I was thinking about grabbing it and taking it home, but at that price I'll wait.

Hadoken!

"But that awfulld-pad on X360 pad... man..."

Controller works fine for me...I'll never buy that excuse unless we're talking about the N64 ;) (and yes, I understand the argument)

I really want this game for some reason. I've always been a fan of the series and own a variety of Capcom fighters, but I agree, 86K for a game that they obviously blow in the arcades seems a bit low, probably due to a mediocre install base in Japan. Could this potentially be a system seller over there? I don't see why not!

This game has online matches in the US, right? If so, DAY ONE FOR ME! :)

COD6 selling more than 86K in Japan? Really? Out of curiosity, what were COD WaW's numbers (if it was released?

"Capcom will sell through initial pressed copies and NOT send out anymore to create the SF aurora"

aura :)

this game is nowhere near being sold out in japan. it was in stock at several retailers i visted. (for both the 360 and ps3)

Previous 50 Comments

Street Fighter IV sells 86k copies first day in Japan, Capcom says it's sold out

Reader Comments (90)

Posted: Feb 13th 2009 11:37PM SirFishouse said

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