The announcement of the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection during Nintendo Direct delighted fighting game fans, particularly as it brought the much-loved Marvel vs. Capcom 2 to modern platforms for the first time in several years. But while the collection is coming to Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC, the decision to skip Xbox entirely has caused backlash.
Capcom made its announcement without offering any explanation for the decision to skip Xbox, and the company declined to comment when contacted by IGN. This comes despite Capcom announcing the same day that it is bringing the two Ace Attorney Investigations titles to Switch, PS4, PC via Steam. And The Xbox One is also included in a similar collection. In fact, the Marvel vs. Capcom series has a long history on the Xbox platform; Marvel vs. Capcom 2 itself launched on Xbox in 2002 and then on Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade in 2009, and the last game in the series, Infinite, launched on Xbox One in 2017.
Xbox owners have reacted to the news with a mixture of shock and anger. The reaction was so intense that the phrase 'No Xbox' started trending on social media, and there are also angry comments on the Xbox subreddit and Discord. One redditor said: “I have a Switch, but I play all my fighting games on Xbox with my arcade stick. It's a huge blow that this isn't coming to Xbox, especially considering that Ace Attorney Investigations was announced for Xbox.”
Another said: “The other Capcom collection announced at the presentation (Ace Attorney Investigations) is coming to Xbox, so they're clearly not against putting their games on consoles. Then why isn't MvC coming? I know I'm in the minority here, but I'd buy it immediately and a few thousand others like me surely would. Now we won't have the chance to do that. What a shame.”
No Xbox? Useless trick @CapcomUSA_ pic.twitter.com/5yVdFISej7
— Keith Garlington (@KeithandMovies) June 18, 2024
I was so excited until I saw there was no Xbox version, why not???
A game like Marvel VS Capcom should be on as many platforms as possible. Capcom's previous collections have always been on Xbox too, why is this different? https://t.co/Eed0MdUNYT pic.twitter.com/OdDXqoTfy9
— Bella Drive 🐯 Xbox Girlie 💚 (@Bella_Drive) June 18, 2024
No Xbox version? https://t.co/1QmylYm7r8 pic.twitter.com/h0lto5Bxy5
— Cargonaut (@shisnoelite) June 18, 2024
Without an explanation from Capcom, fans have been left to speculate about the reason Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection is skipping Xbox. Some believe it's a result of the depreciation of Capcom's MT Framework engine on Xbox One. As many have pointed out, this explains why other Capcom collections, such as MegaMan Battle Network Legacy Collection and Monster Hunter Stories, also skipped Xbox One. There's a feeling from some that Capcom has decided it's not worth the time, energy, and resources that would be needed to bring its MT Framework collection to Xbox One, but again, without word from Capcom, this is just speculation for now.
The “MT Framework for Xbox One is dead” theory is starting to be believed. This explains all the skips for that platform.
Great Ace Attorney – MT
Monster Hunter Stories – MT
Monster Hunter Stores 2 – MT
Mega Man Battle Network – Unknown
Marvel vs. Capcom Collection – Possibly MT https://t.co/16fDuJFI5a— Joemuncher (@joemuncher) June 18, 2024
And so, the backlash continues, spoiling the universal excitement around the long-awaited return of some of the best crossover fighting games ever released.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].