Will Street Fighter 6 be a repeat of Street Fighter 5?
Originally published on Dec 28, 2019,
Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen many conversations regarding Capcom’s next entry in the Street Fighter series, Street Fighter 6. Most of those being centered around console-exclusivity, just like the previous game was. When Capcom decided to get started with Street Fighter 5, they did so with Sony/PlayStation funding most of the developmental costs, which meant that the game would ultimately become an exclusive PlayStation game. That also meant that Capcom would leave out many gamers who owned the opposite console, which didn’t sit well and frankly still doesn’t.
However, many years later, both Capcom and Street Fighter 5 is in a better place. It begs to ask if/when Street Fighter 6 becomes a thing, should it remain an exclusive title, or should the series go back to being a multi-platform title?
But before we attempt to answer that, let’s recap on why Street Fighter 5 became a PlayStation exclusive.
Capcom was in bad shape.
If you’ve been following the gaming industry for the past ten years, you already know that Capcom was in dire straights not too long ago. The company had fallen from its lofty heights, and at one point, there were multiple conversations across the internet as to who should purchase the company. This included Microsoft, Sony, and Disney of all companies. Capcom was in financial trouble, and they knew it. So when the company decided to do another Street Fighter game, there were a few roadblocks. But money, that was the biggest concern of them all.
Capcom didn’t have the budget, something that was painfully obvious. Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono had confirmed this in a tweet as well, stating that the company didn’t have the money available to start development on the next game.
I don't have R&D budget and staff who they're just only make USF4.RT @MC_Odd: @warmlettuce Are you secretly working on a SF V for next gen?
— Yoshinori Ono (@Yoshi_OnoChin) July 15, 2013
Where Ono was originally against Street Fighter IV, he wanted to do Street Fighter 5. Except there wasn’t any money to do so, and this is where Sony comes into play.
Sony wanted a fighting game to call their own
Capcom was already committed to the next Street Fighter. However, they weren’t sure how to proceed. They wanted to branch out more with the series. It had to be part of the esports scene, and it had to be accessible to those who weren’t already fans of fighting games. Elsewhere at PlayStation, they wanted a fighting game of their own. Sure, whenever Tekken was mentioned, you immediately thought of PlayStation. There was one issue: Bandai Namco had taken the popular 3D fighter and turned it into a multi-platform game in 2007 with Tekken 6.
So PlayStation attempted to create their own fighting game with PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. A fighting game that took iconic PlayStation characters and pitted them against each other. On paper, it seemed like a good idea, and when the game was released, it was meant with mixed success. It wasn’t an outright failure but wasn’t as successful as Sony wanted either.
A few years later, Microsoft had announced they were going to reboot Rare’s fighting game, Killer Instinct, for the next Xbox console – the Xbox One. An announcement that I’m sure didn’t sit well with Sony, especially given the limited success of their previous fighting game attempt. However, all wasn’t lost, as this was also right along the time that Capcom had expressed interest in creating the next Street Fighter game, but they lacked the funds. Where Sony had plenty of money thanks to the success of the PlayStation brand. So Sony and Capcom agreed to meet, and they both shared the same vision for the game. Thus Sony agreed to help fund the development of Street Fighter 5, ensuring that the game would stay on Sony branded consoles and the PC.
Meanwhile, Killer Instinct had died out despite Microsoft’s best efforts, and Street Fighter 5 continued to be played in countless fighting game tournaments. All Xbox One owners who were also part of the fighting game community could look for the outside in. Or breakdown and play it on the PlayStation 4, which many ended up doing.
Let’s answer that question now.
Now that this history lesson is over, the question remains. Could Street Fighter 6 also become an exclusive title, just as the previous game? No, I don’t think we’ll see that happen again. It can’t, and while I applaud Capcom and Sony for their previous efforts, I still say Street Fighter 5 being locked to just the PlayStation was a mistake. A mistake as it divided the fighting game community by taking a gaming series that was always a multi-platform game and held it hostage on one console. Doing so again would be another huge mistake and one I doubt we’ll see happen again.
You don’t take perhaps the biggest fighting game series globally and decide to lock out a good portion of players. How Capcom remotely thought this was a good idea is still beyond me. There’s no telling how many more copies the game would have sold if it was also available on the Xbox One. I’m sure some would disagree with me there, but that’s just how I see it.
Mainly because the franchise is too big to contain, and Capcom is riding a high success wave. Monster Hunter World is one of Capcom’s best selling games of all time. The Resident Evil 2 Remake was also very successful, which has prompted work on the upcoming Resident Evil 3 Remake. Even Mega Man 11 sold well, much to the delight of fans of the Blue Bomber. Suffice to say that Capcom is back in a major way, which hopefully means that they have more than enough money in the bank to fund the development of several upcoming games.
All of which makes me believe that we won’t see Street Fighter 6 on just one platform, if and when it gets released. Releasing the title on not just PlayStation but also Xbox and Nintendo brands only make sense. Especially on the Switch, which has been one of the hottest selling consoles of 2018 and 2019. If SNK can get Samurai Shodown running on the Switch and looking good, I might add. Then surely Capcom can work their magic with Street Fighter 6, especially with the Unreal Engine 4 or the upcoming Unreal Engine 5.
I have been wrong on occasion, and Capcom could once again do something completely unexpected. I hope they don’t.
