De Capcom (y de su relación con la PC) podemos decir muchas cosas, pero en esta ocasión escucharon los barruntos de los puristas de esta plataforma, como puede verse en:
SSFIV: AE PC – DRM: We Had it Wrong
So we’ve heard you loud and clear and here’s what we’re going to do about it:
Shortly after launch (it might even be at launch, but we’ll see how submission timing and approval goes) we will roll out a small title update that will completely remove the character limitations for offline mode. That is to say, once you’ve updated, you will be able to use all 39 characters when not connected to the Internet to practice your combo timings, have some fun with a friend on a laptop, or whatever while offline.
As one would logically expect, to get any of the benefits of the online services (online multiplayer, replay sharing/watching, achievements, etc.) you must be online and logged in.