14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer and publisher Capcom has managed to single handedly revive the fighting game genre with the original release of Street Fighter IV and has since launch a number of variations on the game and it seems that the next target for the franchise might be to dominate Facebook.
In an interview with CVG Yoshinori Ono, who is the leading producer working on Street Fighter, was asked about whether the genre will come to Facebook and answered, “I can’t say much but I will say there will be. I can’t say why – but I do think there will be.”
He believes that the series he is in charge of is already pretty social and says, “I think the framework of social networking and fighting games, or the amalgamation of fighting games, have already started so when I say something will happen I’m just just going to add a little bit more on top of the framework we have now and once that is done I think we will get there.”
Recently Street Fighter was launched on the new Nintendo 3DS handheld and the game supports the Social Pass features, which allow gamer to connect with others easily, just by passing in range of each others devices.
Facebook, with its huge number of users and the possibility for social connections, seems to be the next wide open frontier for gaming and a lot of big name developers and publishers are watching the medium and try to see how they can create experiences that attract gamers at first and then persuade them to spend money.
The best positioned big name company is Electronic Arts, which picked up Playfish and now aims to dethrone Zynga.
One of the most successful new launches is Dragon Age: Legends, which delivers turn-based tactical battles and manages to create a compelling and social experience.