Street fighter 4 did this very explicity.
I’m not discounting that the whole DLC characters thing has been around since 2 though and has gotten worse.
I remember 5 launched with a barebones roster where a lot of core characters were missing (basically the first edition of 3 all over again).
When you make sweeping system mechanics changes though, you’re not going to have every character. I think Capcom now knows, between 3 and 5, which characters must be in a Street Fighter game, but selling additional characters later is how they can pay developers to hone in on the best version of the game they were trying to make.
Interesting opinion from someone who didn’t know they did unlockable characters in 4, lol.
I’m not suggesting every street fighter should come with every character, there’s like a million. If you think that who they choose to add and not add isnt financially motivated, I think that’s wrong.
SF6 is a great game, love it, and generally they’re getting it right, but Capcom for sure loves doing things for that cash.