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MK vs. Street Fighter: Will It EVER Happen?

MK vs. Street Fighter: Will It EVER Happen?

It’s no secret that Capcom loves crossovers when it comes to their Street Fighter series, not to mention their VS series that takes Capcom’s entire library and pits it against another brand for blood sport (sans blood). Marvel vs. Capcom . SNK vs. Capcom . Namco x Capcom . Street Fighter x Tekken . Tetsunoko vs. Capcom . Classic fighting brands taking on other classic fighting brands. But you can’t help but notice that another famous fighting game brand is missing, right?

I’m talking about a Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter title, naturally. Fans have asked for this crossover for years, and both sides have hemmed and hawed about it.

Capcom has reportedly said in the past that they have never considered a crossover with Mortal Kombat due to the over-the-top violent nature of the series. Capcom kind of likes their violence to be free of blood and gore.

Without a doubt, each side would have to compromise something, which we’ve seen with Capcom’s numerous other crossovers. I don’t see why the blood and gore couldn’t be that bargaining chip. While the gruesome Fatalities and Brutalities are admittedly a ton of fun and a big part of what makes Mortal Kombat unlike any other fighting game. I’m not saying they can’t be part of the crossover, but perhaps they can compromise on the—for a lack of a better word—brutal aspect of them.

But then again, it’s this compromise that is evidently holding Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon back from proposing the crossover himself. In an interview with IGN in 2017 , he mentioned that such a crossover would be “such a cool dream,” yet he can’t help but fall back upon the notion that while it would be cool, “there’s no way would that satisfy everybody.”

For starters, his last point is such a cop-out. You can make that argument about every single game released on the planet, and that includes his own Mortal Kombat and Injustice franchises. For as many people who loved Mortal Kombat 11 , you can find just as many who have complaints about it. As the saying goes, you can’t satisfy everyone; you’re not pizza. A crossover is certainly not pizza. Some veggies will slide over to the meat-lovers’ side and vice versa.

MK vs. Street Fighter: Will It EVER Happen?

But as the interview went on, Boon admitted his true reluctance about the matter. He pointed out the Street Fighter x Tekken title, that “one of the licenses” will “have to sacrifice something.” He further claimed that he wasn’t sure NetherRealm would be able to “find that sweet spot” of sacrifice.

Basically, he’s saying he doesn’t want Mortal Kombat to sacrifice anything to be a part of a crossover, which is extremely narrow-minded. Not sure why he insists only one license would have to compromise, when surely, if both brands were honestly interested in the idea, both could compromise their licenses.

If compromise is what is holding them back, then they’re clearly not thinking of the consumer-base that already exists for such crossover. No, it wouldn’t make everybody happy, but it would make a majority of people happy, possibly a vast majority. A vast majority ultimately means game sales, which means money in both pockets. In addition, there’s little doubt a crossover wouldn’t instantly join the fighting game community tournaments. There’s free marketing right there for both companies.

A Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter crossover would be a win-win for everyone: developers, publishers, gamers, professional fighting gamers, etc. It appears that the only thing stopping this potentially global success is a refusal to play ball with one another and the fear of failure.

Hey NetherRealm, take your own advice and test your might. Capcom, I know you Hadoken compromise. Think of your fans. If not them, think of your pocketbooks.

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