Tekken x Street Fighter Won’t Happen Anytime Soon, Says Bandai Namco Dev
Tekken 7 continues its streak in popularity among the crowd of fighter game fans, and so does Street Fighter in its own regard. Both are renown franchises within Bandai Namco and Capcom, respectively, as some of the most recognized in the genre. Despite that, the development of a Tekken x Street Fighter crossover may never come true. According to a studio developer, the possibility of its releases becomes increasingly “harder to justify.”
In Tokyo, series lead Katsuhiro Harada discussed the Tekken franchise and the future of the epic crossover. As of right now, there’s still passion and drive to make it happen, but development is currently on hiatus. “Yes, I am emotionally up for it,” Harada told VGC. “I still want to release the game. However, as much as I want to proceed with the project, things have changed a lot since 2012. So I need to get approval and I need to speak to Capcom again as well — they may say ‘no’ now.”
To support the idea, Harada justifies the studio’s delay on Tekken x Street Fighter is their need to prioritize a marketable end product. Competing with said franchise mash-up is Tekken itself, a property that makes better financial sense to prioritize as of right now. Harada explains:
I was excited to see how well Bandai Namco could convert 2D characters like Akuma from Street Fighter, and Geese from The King of Fighters into 3D models and make them look really sexy, visually. I was excited about that and I have passion for it, but my logical and business thinking has me wondering if I really should do it.”
As a project that began in 2012, Bandai Namco and team are still passionate about the prospects of bringing Tekken x Street Fighter to fans around the world. As a matter of fact, development reached up to “about 30% completion” before progress ceased altogether. “However, when we were ready to progress further with the project, Capcom released Street Fighter V and then we released Tekken 7, ” Harada further elaborated. “Those titles are some of the best fighting games ever and they became very successful.”
Continuing, he mentioned:
So then I started to wonder, do I really want to attempt to compete with these huge titles? It could end up splitting the community. That was a serious consideration from the marketing perspective. So I decided to hold off releasing the game for one or two years. Following that, Tekken 7 is now doing very well as a service game.
Traditionally, the life cycle of a fighting game is very short – maybe one or two years and then you make a sequel. But Tekken 7 is very successful as a service game with its DLC. That makes it much harder to justify releasing another game, while Tekken 7 is still doing so well.”
That’s difficult news to bear for gamers who adore both franchises! How are you feeling after hearing the possible fate of Tekken x Street Fighter? Who is to say it will never happen? The future isn’t always certain, but perhaps with enough support from fans – it may one day come true! Any thoughts? Let us know what you think in the comments section below or start a conversation on Don’t Feed the Gamers Facebook page. To stay up to date on gaming and entertainment news as it happens, follow us on Twitter! Here are some of our latest:
Hoi Duong2131 Posts
Hoi is an elusive figure at DFTG, whose favorite past-times include chillin' in the Fade, reading manga, watching anime, collecting novelty items, and gaming.
