Update:

First and foremost, Street Fighter V will feature a brand new service-based approach with regards to post-launch content. With this approach come several key changes to our content strategy

*The initial release is the only disc you will ever need to own
*All balance and system adjustments will be available for free
*All post-launch gameplay related content will be earnable for free by playing the game

That’s right; Street Fighter V will be the first iteration in the franchise where it is possible for dedicated players to earn all gameplay related content (such as characters) for free, simply by playing the game. Long gone are the days of forced Super and Ultra upgrades! Enjoy free balance updates as soon as they become available, and find and choose the post-launch characters that you want to get.

Read more at: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/07/18/street-fighter-v-a-new-way-to-play/

Some Highlights:

*Street Fighter V will launch with a core roster of 16 playable characters, with 4 of them being brand new fighters to the Street Fighter universe.

*Option to pay for currencty if you don't feel like playing the game to unlock it or are a late joiner

Original news:

This is shaping up to be the best Street Fighter yet!  HYPE!

More street fighter screens/news just because:

I have to talk about Tekken 3 here. The content unlocked by playing the game was insane. :(

Obligatory

Earning character for free by playing the game? What is this, 2003?

What a crazy idea.

Capcom has finally lost their minds.

I will not stand for this.

That's earning on-disc characters. Not characters created after the release of the game.

It's like they went back in time, where games back then had content you had to unlock by... *gasp*

PLAYING THE GAME.

I like how you guys mock them instead of getting behind it.

These are characters not on the disc that you will be able to unlock at a later date. This is a first. This is the most pro-consumer stance I've seen a developer take in ages.

Because of

Yeah, but that wasn't possible back then so it's sad to see it's taken so long to eventually arrive at this point. It's great yes but it should be somethng that's happened before, and it isn't the first time that a game has released new content for free, either. 

It's more a reflection of an issue with DLC cultures moreso than anything else, I guess. In addition we don't know how hard it is to unlock everything. Technically you don't need to pay in freemium games like Tapped Out either, but in actuality you do.