'Street Fighter' Producer, Developer Yoshinori Ono Quits Capcom After Almost 30 Years

After close to 30 years with Capcom, “Street Fighter” Series executive producer Yoshinori Ono is resigning from the company this summer.

In a message posted on Twitter, Polygon notes that the veteran producer and game developer talked about the criticism of the tournament structure for this year’s Capcom Pro Tour tournament which moved entirely online due to the coronavirus outbreak, then shared that he was resigning.

“I’ve been with the ‘Street Fighter’ brand for a long time, experiencing good times, bad times, and even non-existent times,” Ono said. “My heart is filled with appreciation to those players who’ve been giving warm and kind support on the brand especially little over the past decade or so as all the activities on the Street Fighter brand regained sunshine and grew its liveliness.

“And now, after serving almost 30 years at Capcom, I am leaving the company in this summer. This means that I will resign my position as the brand manager for Capcom’s various titles including ‘Street Fighter,’” he said.

After working as a sound producer on several games in the “Street Fighter” series when he first joined Capcom in the early 90s, Ono also served as a publicist on “Dino Crisis 2,” sound design coordinator for “Devil May Cry” and sound manager on “Onimusha: Warlords.”

In 2008, after a nearly decade long hiatus for the brand, Ono served as producer and project manager for “Street Fighter IV,” essentially reviving the franchise. He also executive produced a variety of Capcom franchises, including “Monster Hunter” and “Darkstalkers,” and oversaw “Dead Rising” studio Capcom Vancouver as director.

He was most visible, however, when he energetically represented “Street Fighter IV” and “Street Fighter V” in person at tournaments and fan events.

First released in 2016 on PlayStation 4 and Windows PC, Capcom announced in May that it would be extending support for “Street Fighter V” through the fifth season of characters and gameplay updates. Capcom is rumored to be working on “Street Fighter VI.”

“Street Fighter V” game director Takayuki Nakayama and producer Shuhei Matsumoto recently confirmed four of those new characters as Dan Hibiki, Rose, Oro, and Akira from “Rival Schools,” Polygon reports.

“Capcom staff in the new generation will continue taking care of the ‘Street Fighter’ brand and leading the World Warriors,” Ono said in his statement on Twitter. “And, I do believe that they will continue making ‘Street Fighter’ extraordinary.”

“I will look forward to seeing the new Street Fighter brand and how it’s going to be expanded, as just one of the regular gamers next time around,” he said before concluding, “so please allow me to shout as my closing statement in this message to you, 3, 2, 1, SHORYUKEN!”