When Street Fighter 5 was officially announced last year, the game was confirmed to have cross-platform play and would allow players on PlayStation 4 to battle against those playing the game on PC. Although Capcom and Sony did not reveal any specific details about how cross-play works, many regard it as one of the most appealing features of the game, right up there with Street Fighter 5's cast of characters.

However, although fans are keen to get their hands on the game, and punch the virtual lumps out of opponents on both PC and PS4, some are also concerned about the stability of the feature. They are worried that Capcom's servers may buckle under the doubled weight of PC and PS4 players. And the recent Street Fighter 5 beta only exacerbated those fears, as Capcom's servers couldn't handle the pressure and the company was forced to shut down the beta.

Thankfully, though, Capcom realizes that server stability is a serious concern for Street Fighter fans, which is why the game's next PS4 and PC beta will support cross-platform play. Unfortunately, Capcom hasn't revealed a specific date for when this second beta will take place, but the company previously confirmed that the PC testing would take place towards the end of the year. So assuming that there have been no delays, it could be right around the corner. Plus, Capcom previously explained that PC fans can guarantee entry into the Street Fighter 5 beta by pre-ordering the game on Steam.

Additionally, Capcom has also released the following list of minimum and recommend PC specs for Street Fighter 5:

OS Version

  • Recommended: Windows 7 64-bit

Processor

  • Minimum: Intel Core i3-4160 @ 3.60GHz
  • Recommended: Intel Core i5-4690K @3.50GHz

Memory

  • Minimum: 6 GB DDR3
  • Recommended: 8 GB DDR3

Graphics

  • Minimum: Nvidia GTX 480 (or higher) Nvidia GTX 570 (or higher)Nvidia GTX 670 (or higher)
  • Recommended: GTX 960

Network

  • Broadband Connection Required

DirectX Version

  • Minimum: DirectX 11
  • Recommended: DirectX 11

Sound Card

  • Minimum: DirectX compatible soundcard or onboard chipset

The RAM requirements (6GB/8GB) are right in line with other upcoming games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and Assassin's Creed Syndicate, so there will be few arguments there. A post on the Capcom Unity blog also notes that Street Fighter 5 will support (Steam API) Steamworks, which could indicate mod support, although nothing has been officially confirmed.

What is a little troubling, though, is that Capcom recommends Street Fighter 5 be played on PCs that run Windows 7. While this may be a slight against Microsoft (Microsoft's reluctance to host cross-platform play is allegedly why the game isn't coming to Xbox One), fans will be frustrated that the game isn't optimized for Windows 8 or even the more recent Windows 10.

There is still plenty of time to go yet and Capcom may get the game optimized for Windows 8 and Windows 10 too but the operating system requirement could be a major factor in which platform Street Fighter fans buy the game on.

Street Fighter 5 releases for PS4 and PC in March 2016.

Source: Capcom