Phil Spencer has commented on Street Fighter 5’s exclusivity with the PlayStation 4.
He was asked about it on Twitter, and he was diplomatic and frank. The way he put it is that this was a business deal he was not interested in, because they already had a game in the same genre, obviously referring to Killer Instinct. Basically, Phil prefers to invest in their first party game.
@CapitanoCasella Business deals happen. We won't do all of them. When we have a 1st party franchise in a genre I'd rather invest in ours.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 6, 2014
Phil also elaborated, answering a reply from a fan, and agreeing that it is important that Team Xbox make deals for IP that Xbox gamers like.
@DobrySer @CapitanoCasella I agree, there is a mix of deals to do but making sure we own IP XBOX gamers love is critical imo.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 6, 2014
For the better part of the 7th generation of consoles, PlayStation 3 was the de facto platform of choice for fighting games. While some games, including Street Fighter 4 and Dead or Alive, expanded into different platforms, such as PC and Xbox 360, Sony’s console was the most popular platform for devs to bring their fighting games to, and retains a loyal community for the genre. So, it makes sense for Capcom to sign a deal with Sony.
However, the other side of the equation is that it may not have been worth it for Microsoft to pen such a deal. Street Fighter may be the 1st name in fighting games, but this is for a genre that’s more the domain of a dedicated niche, as other competitive genres such as MOBAs and FPSes dominate marketshare today.
How do you feel about Phil's comments? Should he have lobbied to get the game on Xbox One with a delayed release? Or is he right to focus on Microsoft owned IP and games that Xbox fans love? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
