Tekken X Street Fighter, Can it still happen?

Back in 2012, you know, ancient times Street Fighter x Tekken was released. This game was Capcom’s take on the dream match of two of the fighting genre’s more premiere franchises. It was released on almost every major platform of the time with “no-so-great” success. That is if you go by what Capcom’s sales forecast suggests, showing the game underperformed. It was hard for anyone to fathom, two genre pillars coming together to collectively sell poorly. And according to Katsuhiro Harada, that sure enough didn’t boost any confidence on the Namco side of this dream rivalry come to life. But there are some devout fans in the fighting community holding out hope that one day Namco can finish their end of the bargain and complete Tekken X Street Fighter. Let’s talk about some of the factors that can make Tekken X Street Fighter a reality

Fighting genre uptick

One thing that can make Namco Bandai consider a hard push to complete the game is the current revival of the fighting genre. Street Fighter 6 just came out and is being praised across the board with sales numbers seemingly backing that up. The MK reboot, Mortal Kombat 1 isn’t out yet. But with every new character trailer shown, the anticipation of the franchise grows. Not to mention the beta created a good amount of buzz. Then there’s the updated version of Granblue Fantasy Versus also due to release near the end of the year. And just like Mortal Kombat this too had a beta that gave it a good amount of positive buzz. Next, you have the return of the Fatal Fury franchise with Fatal Fury: City of Wolves showing their teaser trailer. And finally, you have Namco Bandai’s own Tekken 8 coming out later this year which also is getting plenty of love around the fighting game community.

So when you take into account this surge in fighting game popularity, it may probably be a good time to at least some consideration into working on Tekken x Street Fighter again.

Sales

It should probably go without saying, but the sales of Tekken 8 could potentially dictate if Tekken x Street Fighter gets a chance. If were honest, the sales of the current fighting game genre as a whole may dictate it even more. But this can be a double edge sword. On one hand, you want the fighting market to thrive and all parties getting a piece of that. Personally, as a consumer, I know I’d want that. But the flip side here is cannibalization. Capcom themselves felt that Street Fighter x Tekken sold poorly in part because of the market being saturated. And with the five games we mentioned earlier, Tekken x Street Fighter can be met with the same outcome. And as earlier stated, Namco Bandai did take notice of the sales numbers and didn’t like what they saw. But we’re also talking about a situation that happened over a decade ago. The nature of the market isn’t the same as it was in 2012. So it’s not assured that the same negative outcome would befall Namco’s outing as it did Capcom’s.

Fan outcry

If there is one thing that the fighting game community is above all else is vocal. Regardless of the franchise. Regardless of how big or small the player count. Fighting game communities are passionate about their games. And they WILL let you hear about it if they feel things aren’t on point. Go to any fighting game developer’s social media and see that for yourself. Ever since Capcom and Namco Bandai initially announced this project, both fanbases were clamoring for the games to release. In truth, some of that was tempered down from the Capcom side as again as we state, sales weren’t up to par. And the whole controversy of making people pay extra for characters that were already found on the disk didn’t help. But with that said, the audience hadn’t forgotten Tekken X Street Fighter. And although not as loud as it once was, there are people still holding out hope. And of course, it doesn’t help matters when Harada tells people “The progress has been at 30% for the past 10 years, and he’s been unable to overcome that so far.” as recently as SDCC 2023. Maybe if the fans make enough noise, the game may get finished.

Street Fighter x Tekken remake

We have to keep in mind Street Fighter x Tekken came out more than a decade ago at this point. And with a lot of gamers, it’s really a matter of “out of sight, out of mind”. But with the way everyone asks for games to be remastered or remade, why not do that for Street Fighter x Tekken? Bringing the 2012 game to the modern audience would be a good way to gauge if the audience still has an appetite for the crossover series.

In the end, who can say what would make Namco put real effort behind the project. But teases like what we saw at EVO 2023 do nothing but give added fuel to a fire that really didn’t need it in the first place. Having Yoshinori Ono meet up with Harada on stage does nothing but get fans riled up. For better or worse. But what do you all think would get Namco Bandai to make Tekken x Street Fighter a reality?