A freeware version of the game with available server source code, entitled Community Edition, was released in January 2018.

This was to make the game more accessible while still being deep and balanced, being capable of standing up to years of high level competitive play.

[6] Rising Thunder is led by former Capcom and Santa Monica Studio employee Seth Killian with assistance from EVO co-founders Tom and Tony Cannon.

The Cannon brothers Tom and Tony announced that Rising Thunder would be closing down on March 18, 2016 as well as saying that they would be focusing on a new game.

[10] On December 18, 2017, it was announced that the game would re-release as Rising Thunder: Community Edition, incorporating local multiplayer and including the server source code for networked matchmaking.

[18] Evo 2012 Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 champion, Ryan "Filipino Champ" Ramirez was the winner of ShowDown's inaugural tournament utilizing Chel.