Of course, that wasn’t the first attempt at revitalizing the series. However, there were still a few figures at Capcom that were championing a full-on revival of the Street Fighter franchise and after the successful re-release of Hyper Fighting on the Xbox 360, Capcom finally gave the greenlight to the first brand-new Street Fighter project in years.
![soulcalibur iv and street fighter 4 soulcalibur iv and street fighter 4](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/HAUAAOSwzKdl1Fqo/s-l400.jpg)
The sixth generation was a truly horrifying time for fans of 2D fighting games. While niche companies like SNK Playmore and Arc System Works continued to fight the good fight, other long-standing franchises either went dormant or attempted to step into the third dimension: a sub-genre that already had several established franchises like Tekken, Virtua Fighter and Dead or Alive to name a few. Unfortunately, when Capcom gave up on 2D fighters, the genre itself essentially went belly up. By this point, Capcom had pretty much abandoned the fighting game genre, focusing mostly on other blockbuster franchises like Resident Evil and the then-fledgling Monster Hunter.
![soulcalibur iv and street fighter 4 soulcalibur iv and street fighter 4](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/O-doEJm-dWo/maxresdefault.jpg)
That’s not to say that the series was completely gone, but it only managed to live on through re-releases, ports and compilations. The legacy of the Street Fighter franchise is a long and storied one, but after the disappointing reception to the long-anticipated Street Fighter III, the series essentially went dormant for roughly a decade.