With the Street Fighter 5 beta going live soon, Combofiend has taken to his Capcom Unity blog to explain some things about what to expect from this opportunity to play the game.
First and foremost, when the beta first starts, only Ryu, Chun-Li, M. Bison, and Nash will be available, with Birdie and Cammy coming on Saturday to test their content delivery system. Daily maintenance will also take place from 11 p.m. - 1 a.m. PST to correct any issues and keep the experience stable.
Also mentioned is that fight money and experience, found in the beta, are currently just placeholders and do not effect the experience whatsoever. Inviting friends for matches is disabled for this beta, as is the share functionality of the PS4, with all matches being completely random worldwide, something that will change upon final release.
It is worth noting that streaming the game, however, is entirely possible. How the actual game will work is that you will choose a character, hop into a space called "the grid" to configure buttons and practice against a dummy, and a match will be made for you against a random opponent.