Since it launched back in 2016, Street Fighter 5 has experienced countless ups and downs. At launch, many fans were down on the game due to fans feeling that the game was largely unfinished as well as crippling server issues that severely impacted the online play. While the game missed its initial sales targets, Capcom stuck with it and slowly over time, the game has managed to turn things around. However, one longtime staffer won't be around to continue seeing the game blossom.
Yoshinori Ono, longtime producer on the Street Fighter series, current Capcom brand manager, and admitted Blanka fan, announced that he's leaving the company after 30 years. In his Tweet, Ono went on to thank the fighting game community for their support and confirmed that a new generation would continue to chart a new course for the fan favorite franchise. While a reason for his departure wasn't given, many have begun to speculate that it's related to his departure from Street Fighter 6.
Ono has had his hand in some of Capcom's biggest franchise from Mega Man, Resident Evil, Dead Rising, Onimusha, Devil May Cry, and more. He made his mark with Street Fighter, however, serving first as sound manager for Street Fighter Alpha 3 before taking on the role of producer and project manager for Street Fighter 4 leading the series back to prominence after a long hiatus.
After nearly 10 years, Street Fighter was largely considered a dead franchise by Capcom. However, Ono fought for the series to make a comeback and focus on the back to basics approach. That belief ultimately paid off as Street Fighter 4 went on to become a massive success, spawn multiple re-releases, and give way to major events like the Capcom Pro-Tour league.
While the steady hand of Ono will likely be missed in future fighting game titles from Capcom, Street Fighter 5 continues to trend up. Last week, director Takayuki Nakayama and producer Shuhei Matsumoto revealed plans for the final season of content. Four out the five new characters were revealed including Dan, Rose, Oro, and Rival Schools character, Akira Kazama. The game is also getting new stages, costumes, as well as gameplay updates in the form of new battle mechanics and balances. Rumors indicate that some of this content was planned for release in Street Fighter 6, but with that game likely getting reworked, Season 5 was put in place to keep fans engaged.
Street Fighter 5 is available for PC and PS4.