While the fighting game genre has always been popular, it's about to hit an all-time high with 2023's slated offerings. In just a month's time, Street Fighter 6 is set to release, boasting a plethora of new features that are set to bring old and new fans alike to the game. Tekken 8 has also been announced, and while a 2023 release date is a little unlikely, it's still possible. And finally, Mortal Kombat 12 has been leaked, and is potentially slated for a 2023 release date. Regardless of when these titles actually end up dropping, it seems fair to say that the fighting game genre is back in full force, but there's one way it could be made even stronger.
Collaborations have been a staple of the fighting game genre for decades. Whether it's guest characters in games like Mortal Kombat and Injustice, or fully-fledged crossover titles like Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe and Marvel vs Capcom, brand collaborations are always a neat little feature of modern fighting games. But it's been a long time since fighting game franchises actually crossed over with one another, and a Mortal Kombat vs Street Fighter game could be monumental.
Street Fighter 6 Should Tease a Mortal Kombat Vs Street Fighter Game
Back in June 2022, just following one of Street Fighter 6's first announcements, a clip of Ryu's Shin Shoryuken special move was posted to Twitter. A few frames of this clip depicted Ryu striking his opponent with an electrifying uppercut, with their skeleton becoming visible for a few seconds. Fans of Mortal Kombat were quick to draw comparisons between this move and Mortal Kombat's infamous X-Ray moves, and the discussion eventually reached NetherRealm creative director himself, Ed Boon, who replied to the post with a confirmation that he really tried to make a Mortal Kombat x Street Fighter crossover happen a while ago.
Naturally, this announcement led to widespread fan speculation, with both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat fans expressing their deep interest in a crossover game. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there's currently a Mortal Kombat vs Street Fighter game in the works, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen in the near-future. While the reasons why Ed Boon's Mortal Kombat vs Street Fighter pitch failed aren't clear, it's likely that both franchises weren't in a place where that would be considered beneficial for both parties, but things have changed quite a bit in the last few years.
Following on from the huge hit that was Street Fighter 4, Capcom's next entry in the long-running fighting franchise had a lot to live up to, and due to some shady business practices, it didn't really meet them. On the other side of the coin, Mortal Kombat has only continued to grow in popularity over the last few years, with both Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11 being huge successes for the franchise. With Street Fighter 6 set to bring a whole new audience to the series, along with restoring faith in it for long time fans, it seems like both fighting game franchises are back and bigger than ever, making a crossover game seem like a smart next move.
If there's one thing that could be even more successful than Street Fighter 6 or Mortal Kombat 12 on their own, it's a Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter game fused together. It might take some work to meld the two very different styles of fighting gameplay together, but it's certainly not impossible, and it could lead to one of the most unique and successful fighting games of all time. Capcom also has the perfect stage to tease an upcoming crossover game, with a guest character spot on Street Fighter 6's roster being perfectly suited to franchise mascots Scorpion and Sub-Zero.
Street Fighter 6 is due out on June 6, 2023, for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
