Let’s flashback to 2012: Barack Obama is still in his first term as U.S. President, the firstAvengersmovie is two months away from its theatrical release, and Capcom’sStreet Fighter X Tekkenis hitting the stores. Fighting game fans have been expecting the companion title from Bandai Namco ever since then, butTekken X Street Fighteris still a white whale. Over seven years later, and we get another almost update from series producer Katsuhiro Harada, but it isn’t very encouraging.
Speaking toVGC, Harada candidly contemplated whether or not it made sense for aTekken X Street Fightergame to come out. His following explanation was not too far fromanother update he provided two years ago, albeit a bit more fleshed out this time. While Harada is “emotionally up for it,” “things have changed a lot since 2012,” with Harada suggesting that he would need further approval from Capcom were he to move the project forward.
At the time whenTekken X Street Fighterwas put on hold, development was roughly 30% of the way through, estimates Harada. And with guest characters such asAkuma fromStreet FighterandGeese Howard fromThe King of Fightersmaking guest appearances inTekken 7, Harada found himself “excited” about how their characters looked and felt in the transition from 2D to 3D. But that’s just the thing—Tekken 7is still doing quite well.
Street Fighter Vis also fine on its own, Harada would say, calling both that andTekken 7"some of the best fighting games ever." Harada cited the life cycle of fighting games, which was traditionally one or two years long before a sequel, but modern fighting games act as services now.Tekken 7, in particular, hasplenty of post-release DLC support. The fear then is splitting the community. “That was a serious consideration from the marketing perspective,” Harada says.
It’s a legitimate concern that still holds true two years after his initial concerns—to be frank,Street Fighter X Tekkencame out at a strange time in between titles, and arguably lost steam in the fighting game community. Still, it would be a shame to not see half of this ambitious crossover never come to fruition—plus, our previous stories on this website haven’t aged well. Have you seenourStreet Fighter X Tekkenreviewlately? The last line was literally: “Here’s lookin’ at you,Tekken X Street Fighter.”
Here’s lookin' at you, indeed. Until then, let’s heedsome advice from Harada back in 2018: “Shut your mouth and watch streaming or eat delicious pizza.”
