Capcom Doubles Down on Draconian PPV Rules for Capcom Cup 12

With the approach of Capcom Cup, the discontent surrounding the PPV decisions seems to only grow stronger, and Capcom have just added fuel to the fire by further specifying how far they will go to make sure that nobody could watch the event without paying for it.

In their new post on X, they shared a thorough stance on sharing and co-streaming, and in short, you can't. Streaming Group Qualifiers s is allowed, but the finals themselves, you can't co-stream or clip them without a "separate permission." How one would acquire such a permission, and how they would co-stream or clip content without breaking Capcom's intention of not showing the finals to anyone but paying customers is anyone's guess.

According to their post, Capcom intends to issue removal requests and takedowns to anyone who posts footage or uses it either offline or online.

The reaction to this is predictable and consistent with what we've seen before. It is absurd that one of the highlights of the competitive scene is being gated through PPV tickets. It comes off as especially disrespectful to the community that enables Capcom to run the event.

Without other tournaments hosted by the FGC, there would be no qualifiers, no hype, no narratives, no players. Capcom reaps all the benefit of the scene, without giving anything back.

This is also potentially harmful for the future of the game. As Sajam points out in his quote post, the last year's finals encouraged people to buy the game or get back into it after being inspired by what they saw on the broadcast.

This time, only a limited portion of the community will be able to tune in and enjoy the event, although even that is under question. Community is a big part of watching any online event. The discussion both on and outside the streaming platforms added so much to the social experience and the excitement around the matches.

Now regardless if you watch the official translations or manage to catch a pirated stream, the community is going to be split, and there will be no clips to share around.

Some have tried to defend this as the right move that needed to happen if people want the serious, big scale competitive scene, but that's not how things operate in the gaming space. All the major events gaming events have been free to watch.

While some may draw comparison to sporting events, where PPV is the norm, they ignore the fact that sport broadcasts also have their own suite of problems, but are typically more accessible thanks to deals with sports channels that show those events.

Perhaps time will show otherwise, but there is no world where something like a PPV fighting game tournament can be successful.