Former Capcom director Hideaki Itsuno wishes he could create Capcom vs SNK 3

Despite departing from Capcom earlier in 2024, Veteran Capcom Director Hideaki Itsuno stated he wished to develop Capcom vs SNK 3, the crossover fighting game he helped develop over two decades ago.

In an interview with VGC, Itsuno candidly stated, “I do want to make a fighting game like Capcom vs SNK, but now I’m neither Capcom nor SNK. If they license it to me, though, I want to make Capcom vs SNK 3. I want to make a fighting game, and it’s at the top of my list of games I want to make.”

A dormant juggernaut?

The Capcom vs SNK series has been dormant for over two decades and came to fruition as a collaboration between Street Fighter developer Capcom and King of Fighters creator SNK at the turn of the century. 

This collaboration resulted in four crossover titles, which featured characters from both companies’ fighting universes. The first title, SNK vs Capcom, debuted in 1999 as an SNK-developed game for the Neo Geo Pocket Color handheld.

The game received an overhauled arcade release in 2000, featuring 16 fighters from each series’ roster. Itsuno joined development for Capcom vs SNK 2 in 2001, which featured a larger cast of fighters. 

The series received its final title in 2003 as an arcade fighter, SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos. The series was supposed to enjoy a fifth installment, as the game planned to take on the 3D era with Capcom vs SNK 3, but development was halted due to SNK’s bankruptcy in 2001. Later, Capcom repurposed assets from the game for yet another project that got cancelled, called Capcom Fighting All-Stars.

Both Capcom-developed fighting games were re-released last year in Capcom Fighting Collection 2, featuring more games developed by Itsuno, including Power Stone 1 and 2, and Project Justice.

It’s been 24 years since Capcom vs SNK 2 was released, yet collaborations continue as SNK’s Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui from the Fatal Fury series were introduced as DLC characters to Capcom’s Street Fighter 6. Furthermore, SNK’s Fatal Fury: City of Wolves will get DLC appearances from Street Fighter’s Ken Masters and Chun-Li.

As for Itsuno, the former Capcom developer is now leading Tencent’s subsidiary studio LightSpeed Japan, which recently opened a new office in Osaka, and is working on a new AAA title.