Capcom vs. SNK and Darkstalkers Fans Get KO’d

The past few years have treated fighting game fans very well. With the release of Super Street Fighter II HD Remix, Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter IV, BlazBlue Calamity Trigger and Continuum Shift, Teeken 6, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Capcom vs. Tatsunoku, Virtua Fighter 5 and even King of Fighters XII (though mentioning that game in the same breath as the rest of those almost seems insulting), it’s safe to say that the fighting genre is ablaze with popularity. Moreover, the arrival of these games has essentially allowed fighting enthusiasts around the world to pretty much dip their proverbial toes into just about every pool to see which of these titles fit their style the best. So, while this diversity is appreciated by the community as a whole, there are more than a few fans out there that have not been so happy with this sudden genre influx and revitalization.

Fans of Capcom’s “other” fighting series, Darkstalkers, have been among those who have patiently awaited a follow up to their coveted franchise. Seeing as the last installment in the series was in 1997, it’s easy to understand why Darkstalkers followers feel as if they’ve been left out in the cold in this recent resurrection. Capcom vs. SNK lovers also feel similar as they’ve received the same, neglectful treatment by the big C, and therefore have cried out to the masses about this perceived injustice. Their begging and pleading, however, has not fallen on deaf ears it seems.

While Capcom doesn’t necessarily have any good news for fans of these series, Christian Svensson, Capcom’s US VP, had this to say about the topic, “Right now we’re focused on Street Fighter X Tekken, SSFIV: 3D Edition, Street Fighter 3 Third Strike Online Edition, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and maybe something else somewhere. That’s more than enough fighting products for an audience to digest in the near term without overly cannibalizing each other.”

He went on to state, “We also only have so many development resources. Not just any team can make a credible fighting game and we have loads of requests for lots of titles that we don’t have the resources to make. While we listen very closely to fan requests, any product decisions have to overlay positively against strategic objectives and be prioritised against product viability. It takes years to make a game (that’s multiple years), even anHD Remix, so while we may get to them some day, that day is still likely to be a ways off.”

So, there you have it. If you’re a fan of Darkstalkers or Capcom vs. SNK, it looks like you’re going to be waiting a while longer for any news about a renaissance. In the meantime though, there are so many fighters out there right now, that’d it be hard not to find something to hold you over until then.