How PS4’s Street Fighter series has evolved to be a movie, casino game and more

It’s easy to miss how much borrowing and lending goes on across different entertainment mediums if you’re not paying attention. Film, gaming and music are three niches of entertainment that lend and borrow from each other regularly. If a film has yet to be made into a video game, it soon could be. But it can go in the opposite direction too. Many of the best video games have evolved into films and even  more games, typically those cinematic games.

The reasons that the same narratives and characters are copy and pasted across entertainment mediums is simple. It’s all about guaranteeing success. If a film has been a massive hit at the box office, game development companies know they already have a ready-made audience willing to buy the gaming version, and again vice versa.

A recent example of this unfolding can be found in the Playstation4 Street Fighter Series.

How the Street Fighter Series Has Expanded

Street Fighter, also known as SF, is a combat title from Capcom in Japan. The series is a massive success and first came out on elementary video gaming consoles and arcade gaming machines back in 1987. Since then, it has grown into its own empire with various new series of the game being released as consoles developed. There have also been spin-off and limited editions being sold around the world.

The gaming series has been so successful that it has stretched out into other mediums. You can find Street Fighter comic books, TV shows, and Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One (2018) included many recognizable Street Fighter characters. The games have stuck around as consoles improved. One of the latest gaming adaptions is the Streetfighter 2 slot machine from NetEnt. This casino slot has transported your favourite warriors into the gambling scene.

Just How Successful Is Street Fighter?

Street Fighter is not just a successful series, but it continues to be successful in the modern age. For example, in 2014, a reported 35 million copies of the first version of the game had been sold. And in 2019, the first game was still selling, and over 45 million players have now bought this title. Every Street Fighter game ever released has grossed over $10 billion.

It is easy to see why so many other entertainment mediums are waiting to latch onto the series and revolutionize it in a new form. However, Street Fighter is not Capcom’s best-selling product. It sits in second place just behind Resident Evil, which just so happens to have also been made into a Resident Evil movie and a video game.

Of course, the critics have found something to complain about when it comes to the series. The biggest complaint is that the Street Fighter series is rarely in chronological order, unlike other combat series like Tekken or Fatal Fury.