Street Fighter 6’slong-awaited Spy x Family collaboration was such an easy slam dunk, butCapcomhas somehow managed to let the ball slip out of its hands, fly all the way across the court, and land directly in its own hoop. It finally released earlier this month, but all the excitement very quickly turned into disappointment the moment we realized that the months of build up were for a couple of Avatar costumes and some stickers.
Street Fighter has never had a history with guest characters, outside of a handful of the many Final Fight additions over the years, so it’s not like we were all expecting to be duking it out with Yor and Loid Forger, but the general expectation was that we’d be getting a costume for either Chun-Li or Juri at the very least. It didn’t help that Capcom left a massive amount of time between announcement and release, further convincing people that something of substance was being cooked up. People were being perfectly set up for disappointment.
It comes across as even more bizarre to a relatively new Street Fighter fan like myself. Mortal Kombat is adding characters like Omni-Man and Peacemaker to its roster, and here we have an amazing collaboration that feels like it was forced upon Capcom. I get that guest characters aren’t really a thing in Street Fighter, but the Spy x Family crossover was a perfect opportunity to break tradition and move with the times. Crossovers are all the rage now thanks to Fortnite and the popularity of multiverses, and Capcom has two characters in Yor and Loid Forger that would fit extremely well in the game’s already excellent roster.
Unfortunately, wasted opportunities seem to be Capcom’s bread and butter at the moment, considering it’s somehow managed to stir up controversy with every single bit of post-release DLC since launch. A similar level of excitement surrounded the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle collaboration, before Capcom charged $60 for all four costumes. Even with the admittedly excellent third costumes for the base roster, fans wereup in arms over “predatory” monetization practiceswith its in-game currency.
It’s this consistent greed which is the cause of the Spy x Family collaboration being a total disappointment. Avatar skins can be bought by every Street Fighter 6 player, regardless of who their favorite or most-used characters are. There is more money to be made offering a product to everyone rather than a select few, and while Capcom would’ve undoubtedly received more praise and goodwill by releasing a couple of costumes for Chun-Li or Ryu, that would be more effort for less cash.
Capcom cannot continue dropping the ball when it comes to supporting Street Fighter 6 properly, and the only reason why it’s still currently top dog in the fighting genre is becauseMortal Kombat 1is even worse. Yes, it’s just a collaboration costume right now, but it represents either an uncaring attitude or a blatant misunderstanding of what fans actually want. With a new challenger inTekken 8on the horizon, there’s every possibility that the more casual fanbase that Street Fighter 6 did so well in cultivating will jump ship if it hits the ground running.
The updates we’ve been getting over the past 7 months have been few and far between, and when they do eventually drop, all they do is whip fans up into a mob. It won’t take much for Bandai Namco to make Tekken look like a more appealing prospect, and it’s already starting to turn my head a little bit due to Capcom’s consistent fumbles. Street Fighter will always have its loyal fans, but it could find itself lagging behind if it doesn’t start capitalizing on these golden opportunities that are falling into its lap.
