Ono: fighting game genre won't collapse

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 29 July, 2011

Promises to "treat the fans right".

Street Fighter x Tekken producer Yoshinori Ono reckons the fighting game genre is in rude health – and won't collapse through over saturation as it did in the nineties.

In an interview with Siliconera, Ono pointed to the first-person shooter genre, which has survived and thrived despite the sheer number of games available.

"For first person shooters, you have Call of Duty, Battlefield, Medal of Honor, and other games," he said.

"It would be awesome to get fighting games that big. I don't think it will ever get quite that far, but I think it is possible for fighting games to thrive, you can see how long the FPS genre sustained itself without collapsing, and I think we can do the same this time."

The fighting game genre was at the height of its popularity in the early to mid-nineties, with the Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and Tekken series among the best-selling in gaming.

But gamers were inundated with new fighting games – often very similar to their predecessors – and the genre collapsed in on itself.

2008's Street Fighter 4, credited with revitalising fighting games, was the first proper new game in the illustrious series for a decade.

So how will Capcom avoid a similar fate this time around?

"The key is not just attracting new fans, but keeping current fans satisfied, keeping them plugged in, and interacting with the community through Capcom-Unity and events like this," Ono continued.

"We need to make sure the players' voices are heard and they feel cared for. As long as we treat the fans right and cater to them, I think they will stick with us for the long haul. I don't think we will see the bubble burst like the way did in the nineties."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (30) Latest comment 10 months ago

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  • repeater #1 10 months ago

    Great, so that means we can expect another iteration of SF4 any month now?

  • varsas #2 10 months ago

    Treat fans right and releasing a disc based update within a year does not compute.

  • berelain #3 10 months ago

    "As long as we treat the fans right and cater to them, I think they will stick with us for the long haul." - then maybe Capcom should start doing just that. Not releasing new versions of games with a few extra characters and blaming it on the tsunami would be a start, and putting in some actual content rather than charging a fortune for awful costume packs and shadow battles wouldn't hurt either.

    EDIT: Also, releasing upgraded versions wasn't so bad in the MegaDrive / Snes days because there was no way to update a game any other way. These days, releasing DLC expansions would make a hell of a lot more sense.
    Edited by berelain at 29/07/11 @ 10:16

  • arcam #4 10 months ago

    We need to make sure the players' voices are heard and they feel cared for. As long as we treat the fans right and cater to them, I think they will stick with us for the long haul.

    I don't play a lot of fighting games, but the trend this time around seems to be releasing very slightly upgraded versions of the game a few months down the line. And this is basically the exact reason WYP gives for the genre collapsing last time round.

    So really, what's changed? Are they really 'caring for' gamers and listening to them any more than they did last time around?

  • Shikasama #5 10 months ago

    Yeah, after how many different versions of Street Fighter 4 and the ridiculous news of the new MvC being released, japanese fighting games can fuck right off.

  • Freek #6 10 months ago

    There's also the matter that an FPS is a very accesable genre. Point gun, press button, enemy dies. You can have fun with that easely and then start learning about team based tactics, map control and special skills.
    A fighter is really hard to get into, takes allot of time and effort to learn a character and be half decent at it. That's the barier to entry.

  • Slipstream #7 10 months ago

    He put Pheonix Wright in UMVC3 especially for me so...

  • varsas #8 10 months ago

    Freek has a valid point and it's also the reason why fans that do get into the games are going to be annoyed when an upgraded version is released so soon after the original.

  • s3y3 #9 10 months ago

    The fighting genre has been revived but they seem to be doing their best to kill it off again.

  • SuperFLI #10 10 months ago

    now all this sounds like the voice of people who are only seeing the fringe of what is going on with the community, which is what fight games have become since the 90's. if you have been following things, a lot of what has been done with the new releases were not done by capcom purely to make a quick buck. mvc3 especially had so many requests and balance complaints that, capcom keeping its promise to support and listen to the fans had no choice but to do something major in order to keep that promise.
    i will acknowledge that their approach is definitely aimed at keeping money coming in, but at the same time, compared to fps games in general, capcom, and a lot of devs of fighting games are doing a lot to listen to their fans and do things that make them happy. whether or not you know this, soul calibur 5 is on its way due in some part, big or small, to the agitation of the fans. namco listened to those fans, and now are giving them what they want. same applies to the release of kof13 on consoles is also becos of fans. people complain about the constant iterations of sf that are being released now and mvc3 as well, but at least the two series are completely different from each other. compare that with the over saturated fps market where when you see one game with iron sights aiming, you might have a hard time telling which freaking game it is.
    capcom may be making mistakes, and may not have done things perfectly, but as a business with a profit as their final consideration, they, and other devs making fight games, are doing a damn sight more than most other devs working on other genres.

  • MiniAmin #11 10 months ago

    @Freek

    I was just about to post a similar comment. Well said.

    I begun playing Super Street Fighter IV when it was released, it was the first fighting game I "got into". I loved it and spent a lot of time learning how to play with Zangief. I decided to try and play with other characters, and realised how much time and effort it'd take, since experiencing that realisation, I haven't really touched the game (as brilliant as it is).

    I'd love more fighting games like Soul Calibur, which focus on timing, rhythm and simple strategy.

  • berelain #12 10 months ago

    @SuperFLI - "mvc3 especially had so many requests and balance complaints that, capcom keeping its promise to support and listen to the fans had no choice but to do something major in order to keep that promise."

    Or they could have issued a balance patch for free to all users, then released the extra characters as paid content. Just like ARC has done with BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, just like SEGA did with Virtua Fighter IV, just like NetherRealm has done with Mortal Kombat.

    Don't get me wrong, I love Street Fighter IV in many ways. But its painfully lacking in content compared to other titles out there. At least Soul Calibur V is a new game with a new cast and a new storyline, and Tekken 5 had the bonkers-but-brilliant adventure mode thing.

  • Kami #13 10 months ago

    The problem is the fighting game genre has gone too far the other way.

    I like a good scrap, but I have no intent to become a professional fighting games player. I am not interested in becoming a pro at SoulCalibur, or Tekken, or SF4 or DOA or any fighting game. I just want to be entertained by beating the snot out of foes for a while - if I want a challenge, I'll crank the difficulty up, if I just want some moving punchbags to take my every-day stresses and strains out on, I'll knock it down to the easier modes.

    Fighting games are becoming extremely anal. SF4 is a fantastic case in point - the refinements, tweaks and changes are welcome but the vast majority of us won't notice and - largely - won't care. The people these changes are aimed at are the professionals. Namco have had aggressive AI for years, forgetting that not everyone WANTS cheap, aggressive AI on easier settings. Controls are getting complicated. A focus on showing off has taken hold, perform a series of mind-numbingly complicated controller contortions to get a 100-hit combo and humiliate your foe - forgetting anyone capable of mastering such limber moves really, desperately needs to get outside - remember what that is? Big ball of firey heat in the blue thing that looks like the ocean but isn't?

    The fighting game genre has, in effect, become hardcore. And that - THAT - is largely why I am so fed up of them. They expect too much and often reward far too little, with sometimes obscene requirements to unlock new characters and a general sense of "But we can make the game longer if we cheapen the AI a little" - forgetting "a little" on their end can be amplified to "an awful lot" by the time a player gets to it.

    I want to be excited. I loved SSF4. But it's exactly the same problem - tweak tweak tweak. Seriously, any more and it's going to be as frozen as Julianne Moore's face, tighter than Cowell's trousers. The genre has become an engineers plaything, and in many cases the soul, the passion and the fun is being taken out of it.

    SF x Tekken sounds like a blast... but it's a blend of Capcom and Namco. And no offence to either, but with their anal tendencies, a game incorporating both... do. not. want.

  • neems #14 10 months ago

    You want to try the new Mortal Kombat game Kami - as well as being (relatively) accessible, it has an enormous amount of content, so that even if you only ever play it single player it will actually last you more than 20 minutes.

    Hopefully other fighting game developers will take note of what Mortal Kombat has achieved with its story mode.
    Edited by neems at 29/07/11 @ 11:02

  • Max_Powers #15 10 months ago

    The fragmentation of the player base by releasing small update after update at a premium, and releasing to many games is killing the genre right back off again.

    SFIV
    SSIV
    SSIV: Arcade Edition
    MvC
    MvC Update
    Tekken X Streetfighter

    And this is just Capcom

    It saddens me, but with product management like this the fighting genre will fade again very soon.

  • MiniAmin #16 10 months ago

    Check your inbox Kami.

  • Ryze #17 10 months ago

    So - make UMvC's content available via DLC, along with a spectator mode for the online play. I've 1600 points waiting for you.

    edit@Max_Powers

    You forgot:

    MvC2
    SSFIITHDR
    SFIIITSOE

    :D
    Edited by Ryze at 29/07/11 @ 12:21

  • rottingyoda #18 10 months ago

    Personally bought all three new SFs. SSFIV was a bargain at 17euro and then the AE dlc was a tad overpriced but hardly break the bank worthy. sf2 had 10 versions or so I believe. all full boxed retail. I like the idea of getting yearly updates to fix the game in places and for a third of the cost of the original SFIV. Costume packs are a complete rip off but thats the only thing that I think should have been much fairer.

    Would you prefer they released a new SF every year like COD/FIFA? Ill stick to my 15euro update as opposed to the 55euro update thank you

  • Kami #19 10 months ago

    Got it MiniAmin.

    And I'll take that under consideration neem. Although I didn't jump into the new MK for two reasons; one, was their focus in the build up that the game was being developed and tested in the professional space. And secondly... Armageddon. Although maybe it's time to drop that sack of sour grapes, because we all know Armageddon was... well... sh--

  • taurus82 #20 10 months ago

    @Max_Powers

    Tekken X Street Fighter is (or will be) developed by NamcoBandai.

  • 5h1nj1 #21 10 months ago

    I don't think adding restricting online DRM (ssf iv pc) is the key.

  • andrewsqual #22 10 months ago

    Yoshi wanted to release the Arcade Edition as a free update. Don't blame him. Unfortunately he works for Crapcom.

  • 1Dgaf #23 10 months ago

    Few things in gaming have annoyed me as much as Capcom and their MvC3 update plans. Then to hear this is even more annoying. It seems that it's becoming acceptable for companies to pull this stuff and if you question them, people say that you've got 'a sense of entitlement'. It really is such bullshit.

  • 1Dgaf #24 10 months ago

    There's also a trend for people think it's acceptable to pay for game balance updates. No it isn't. If the product isn't working properly, fix it. Recoup your money through other non-gameplay affecting means.

  • neems #25 10 months ago

    I dare say SF4 and variations are better fighters than MK - but MK is better as an actual game.

  • varsas #26 10 months ago

    @PS_2010: Try MvC3 if you want speed :)

    EDIT: Actually wait for the Ultimate version that's coming out.
    Edited by varsas at 29/07/11 @ 14:34

  • Golgo #27 10 months ago

    I agree with Freek. For those reasons, Mortal Kombat 9 was perfect for me. Most people - myself included - haven't got the patience to work on memorizing zillion-string combos and counting frames.

  • StriderRex #28 10 months ago

    I'm probably the only one who thought Yoko Ono had made some comment on gaming, all I could think of was, what??!!

  • Bander #29 10 months ago

    So, still no chance of Darkstalkers 4 then?

    After the recent Tekken X Streetfigher trailers, I can't help but want a proper Final Fight game now. I'm just sick of 1-on-1 fighters. Capcom's output being based on Street Fighter 2 characters all the time without exception really isn't helping!

  • RelaxedMikki #30 10 months ago

    I agree with Kami.

    Fighting games are fun. But the depth of combos etc is ridiculous.

    Make something dumb and spectacular that is geared towards using a console controller and you will make a fortune. The double-twisty half-circle business wrecks console controllers.