Phil Spencer, head of Xbox (sadly not referred to as “X-boss”), has said that he plans to make up for Street Fighter V not coming to the Xbox One, as it was recently announced as a PS4/PC exclusive.
Responding to a fan’s questions on Twitter, Spencer essentially shrugged and said “Business deals happen.” He also noted that they already have a first-party IP in the fighting game genre, referring of course to Killer Instinct, and that he would invest in something they already own rather than attempt to acquire exclusive rights to something new.
While he raises a very good point, it’s hard to compare Killer Instinct with Street Fighter. Whereas Street Fighter is arguably the most popular fighting game of all time (with its second installment selling 6.3 million copies twenty years ago) with a ridiculous amount of games in the series, Killer Instinct has had a whopping three games in the series in the past twenty years, with the most recent entry for the Xbox One receiving rather average reviews. In contrast, Street Fighter IV, the most recent main series installment, received very favorable reviews. Basically it seems as if Spencer is saying “Well those guys have Oreos, but don’t worry, we have Hydrox cookies.”
Still, Spencer went on to say, in the form of responding to tweets, that he loved “the idea of game franchise bartering,” when a follower remarked that he would forgive the Street Fighter thing if Microsoft would release a new title in the Banjo-Kazooie or Conker franchise. Personally, I think a lot of people would be up for that as well, as Microsoft has done practically nothing (or at least nothing noteworthy) with any Rare IPs after acquiring the developer twelve years ago. Bringing out a sequel to a beloved series could possibly be the thing to placate Xbox One owners upset by the whole Street Fighter incident.
