There’s an interesting update on the case of Xbox missing games from Capcom like Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. (UPDATE BELOW!)
We are sure many fans were surprised when Capcom revealed Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics in last month’s Nintendo Direct, and we learned afterwards that the collection was not coming to Xbox, even though it was coming to PlayStation and Windows, aside from the Switch.
Earlier this month, Jez Corden of the Xbox Two Podcast revealed that the reason Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics and other Capcom games were not coming to Xbox, was because Xbox One lost compatibility with MT Framework.
Now, we will explain this a little bit more. Capcom, of course, is not boycotting Xbox, and there is no plum deal with Sony that stops the game company from bringing their games to Xbox at all.
On the contrary, Xbox players are regularly part of the multiplatform releases of the company, and that includes their biggest games. Titles like Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 4 Remake, and Monster Hunter World, became some of the companies’ best-selling titles. We’re sure Capcom has the figures, and knows that they wouldn’t have been that successful without Xbox players.
So the issue here would really seem to be about MT Framework more than anything else. Microsoft was not exactly wrong to upgrade their systems, so that they can better support newer game engines. But it’s an accidental consequence that they can’t get some newer, smaller Capcom games, because Capcom is still using MT for their older games.
Now, in the latest episode of the Xbox Two podcast, Jez has an update. After describing the situation with Capcom, MT Framework, and Xbox, he says this:
“I’ve also been told that Microsoft is working on it with Capcom. So Microsoft have identified that having Capcom’s back catalog not present on Xbox for technology reason is not a great look. And I think they are trying to work through it and figure it out.”
UPDATE: Jez has shared more context in the situation replying to Hazzador Gaming sharing his rumor on Twitter. Jez said (edited for clarity):
“Aye. It’s not so much an issue with the engine but it’s the dev pipeline, they don’t have a team for it right now at Capcom for Xbox. I keep seeing people say “but backward compat!!” but there is work being done on these titles too, they’re not straight ports, they’re getting net code updates n shit and maybe having some licensed aspects tweaked.
We can only hope and keep making noise.”
Since Capcom has declined to confirm or deny these rumors so far, we have Jez’ word to rely on for these rumors. And if it’s true that Microsoft is working on a solution for this with Capcom, than maybe Xbox owners won’t feel like they have been left out at all.
Thus far, Capcom’s new MT Framework games weren’t really their biggest AAAs. So, Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics may have literally broken Capcom’s and Microsoft’s complacency here, as a game with a built in narrative for its unavailability, and the legendary status it had before it was delisted. If this is how it played out, perhaps it’s another unexpected chapter that will eventually be added to the legend of the Marvel vs. Capcom franchise.
