Street Fighter producer and veteran Capcom developer Yoshinori Ono has resigned from the company and will leave Capcom this summer, he announced on Sunday. In a message to Twitter, Ono criticized this year the structure of the Capcom Pro Tour tournament – the format moved completely online, due to the coronavirus pandemic – and revealed its impressive departure.
“I’ve been with the Street Fighter brand for a while now, experiencing good times, bad times and even non-existent times,” Ono said. ‘My heart is full of appreciation for the players who have given warm and friendly support to the market over the past decades, as all activities on the Street Fighter market have gained sunshine and their vitality has grown.
‘And now, after serving at Capcom for almost 30 years, I’m leaving the company this summer. This means that I will be relinquishing my position as market manager for the various Capcom titles, including Street Fighter. ”
Ono joined Capcom in the early 1990’s, and worked as a sound producer in the Street Fighter series. He is probably best known as the producer of Street Fighter 4, which brought the market back to a nearly decade-long hiatus. Ono served as executive producer on a variety of Capcom franchises, including Monster Hunter and Darkstalkers, and oversaw Capcom Vancouver’s Dead Rising studio.
But it was his producer roles up Street Fighter 4 en Street Fighter 5 where Ono was most visible, and energetically represented the franchise in person at fan events and tournaments.
Capcom announced in May that it would expand support for Street Fighter 5, first released in 2016, through 2021 with a fifth season of characters and gameplay updates. Street Fighter 5 game director Takayuki Nakayama and producer Shuhei Matsumoto recently confirmed four of those new characters: Dan Hibiki, Rose, Oro, and Akira of Rival Schools. Capcom is rumored to be working Street Fighter 6.
“Capcom’s new generation of personnel will continue to lead the Street Fighter brand and lead the World Warriors,” Ono said in his farewell statement. ‘And I do believe that they will continue to make Street Fighter extraordinary. I’ll be out to see the new Street Fighter brand and how it expands next time, just like any of the regular gamers. “
