Capcom fighting ambassador Seth Killian offered an explanation we hadn't considered for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3's seemingly early release (just nine months after MvC3): Marvel licensing constraints.

"We have the license for this specific game, but other companies outside of Capcom have licenses for other Marvel games that impinge," he told Eurogamer. "So we have to find specific times where we're able to release products. It's on the Capcom side and on the Marvel side." He added that "I don't ask anybody to feel sympathetic about that."

As for why the game is a standalone product on a separate disc, rather than DLC, Killian cited the slow adoption of DLC in Japan. "Capcom obviously has strong roots in the disc based tradition," he said. "That's the way most games are sold in Japan, so this is the way to approach it naturally. Clearly they're active in a global market, but are putting their toes in the water of shifting tastes for consumers in other places. Having just an all DLC release would be considered a strange move in Japan. Having an all DLC release would be odd."

Taking a game about a lawyer fighting a sentient space raccoon, and then letting you download it. That would be odd.