One of the leading figureheads of the Japanese gaming scene has announced his imminent resignation from Capcom. Yoshinori Ono will leave Capcom after almost 30 years of service and will most fondly be remembered for his immense success in regard to the Street Fighter franchise.
— Yoshinori Ono (@Yoshi_OnoChin) August 9, 2020
Yoshinori Ono is the guy synonymous with the Street Fighter series. As Producer of the legendary Street Fighter IV, Ono brought back the iconic fighting franchise into the spotlight after it experienced a decline in popularity after the heydays of the arcade.
Not just Street Fighter but pretty much all fighting games by Capcom have Ono’s influence all over them. Sadly, recent entries into the Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom franchises failed to meet expectations both critically and from its fans.
To be fair, Capcom and Ono managed to turn around the ship nicely especially with Street Fighter V but initial impressions lingered with fans not being satisfied how Capcom handled their premier fighters.
I’ve been with the Street Fighter brand for a long time, experiencing good times, bad times, and even non-existent times. My heart is filled with appreciation to those players who’ve been giving me warm and kind support on the brand especially over the past decade or so as all activities on the Street Fighter brand regained sunshine and grew its liveliness.
It’s unclear whether these had any influence in Yoshinori Ono’s departure from Capcom but after close to three decades it’d be totally understandable if the game creator was simply looking for a change.
The Street Fighter series will of course continue with fresh blood on the helm. It’ll be interesting to see how Capcom will move forward with a hypothetical Street Fighter VI for next-gen. And of course, we are looking to see what Ono has planned for his future since it’d be a shame to completely lose Ono’s creative mind from gaming altogether.
