Street Fighter 5 is never coming to Xbox One, says Capcom

Street Fighter 5 is not a timed exclusive, and Capcom isn't being coy about its arrangement with Sony.

Street Fighter 5 is coming to PC and PS4, but not Xbox One. This isn't a Rise of the Tomb Raider-type deal where we all know a port is inbound even if nobody will say it outright; you simply won't see Street Fighter 5 on Xbox One.

"The reality is that this is a real partnership. We are console exclusive for this franchise for this numbered run," a Capcom representative told Gamespot.

While the representative wouldn't be drawn on whether the PS4 version of the game will have additional post-launch content as a result of the arrangement, I suspect Capcom's insistence on cross-platform play is what sealed the deal.

"The relationship with Sony does open doors for things we haven’t been able to do in the past," Capcom said. "The relationship serves a gameplay and development purpose, and not just a marketing value."

That certainly sounds like a cross-play reference to me. I don't hold out much hope that Microsoft will relax its strictures on cross-play any time soon, unfortunately; while Sony and Nintendo have allowed cross-play between their consoles as well as PC and mobile devices, Microsoft seems determined not to let anybody interface with Xbox Live. It's a shame, as the growing popularity of cross-play among consumers and developers may mean further exclusives like Street Fighter 5.

We had a go at Street Fighter 5 recently and found it to be a worthy successor to Street Fighter 4. It's expected in March.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said Microsoft will make up for missing out on one of the biggest fighting games in the world - although he did sort of ruin that by suggesting Killer Instinct is a decent substitute.