Remember the controversy surrounding the recent re-release of SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos?
This classic 2003 fighting game, published by SNK, featured censored key artwork in Western regions and a “woke” disclaimer at startup, stating that the content, such as the depiction of attractive women, doesn’t “represent the ideals of our company.”
This has become a common practice for Capcom’s re-released titles, as seen with the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection. Capcom has increasingly aligned with Western ESG political agendas, as evidenced by their modern titles such as how the Dead Rising remake features censored dialogue, adjustments to make gameplay easier for modern audiences, and changes to avoid racial stereotyping, including race-swapping a character’s design.
Similarly, Monster Hunter Wilds will simplify gameplay mechanics and remove gender-locked armor for male and female hunters, not only to be more inclusive but also to reduce the complexity of designing distinctive armor sets for each sex. Sex terminologies have even been replaced with “body type” to reflect this shift.
Unfortunately, SNK faced backlash for the issues with SVC Chaos, despite the fact that the Saudi prince-owned company recently confirmed the return of Mai Shiranui in all her endowed glory for the upcoming release of Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.
Capcom meanwhile has announced the Capcom Fighting Collection 2, featuring classic fighting games, for PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC.
This collection will feature a variety of games, including Power Stone, Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein, Capcom Fighting Evolution, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 Pro, and Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001.
If only Capcom weren’t so focused on pushing for homosexual inclusivity and ESG/DEI initiatives that emphasize censoring the female form and increasing the representation of marginalized characters who aren’t White or are sexually ambiguous.
For instance, the announcer in Capcom’s latest installment of Street Fighter 6 just so happens to be a overly flamboyant Black transgender character known as Eternity. Needless to say, Capcom have been majorly influenced by Western political finances backed by ESG ideological initiatives for short-term profit.
This collection could have been worth celebrating, but given Capcom’s tendency to apologize for “problematic” elements like busty women in re-releases of classic games, the chances of an authentic re-release are now impossible.
Staying true to their focus on modern audiences, Capcom has quietly confirmed that almost every title in the newly announced Capcom Fighting Collection 2 will undergo some form of censorship, a fact that wasn’t revealed during the official announcement.
The official game webpage allows users to easily browse the various titles featured in the collection, but it’s only then that one can grasp the extent to which Capcom is willing to go to secure maximum ESG hedge fund financing. The company appears unwilling to re-release the original arcade versions of these titles without modifications.
For example, in Plasma Sword, Capcom has altered certain visuals in the story and modified the appearance of several stages. Hidden characters Kaede and Rai-on are included, but Project Justice will also feature modified visuals during its story.
Additionally, the first Power Stone will have changes made to certain characters’ endings, which will almost certainly impact Rouge.
In Street Fighter Alpha 3, several stages have had their visuals altered as well. These likely include Ken Masters’ Hotel Masters stage, where women in bikinis are shown in the foreground enjoying the action, and Balrog’s Las Vegas casino stage, which features two scantily clad women in the background.
In Capcom Fighting Evolution, some character transformations will be removed due to Demitri’s Midnight Bliss move.
Demitri Maximoff, the main protagonist of the Darkstalkers series, appears as a playable character in the 2004 release of Capcom Fighting Evolution.
His most iconic move, Midnight Bliss, involves the vampire grabbing his opponent, saying “Come on, baby,” and temporarily transforming them into an alternate version of themselves.
Each character has a unique transformation, with some even having rare secondary forms. While some of these transformations serve as fun Easter egg references to specific aspects of a character’s backstory, the majority transform characters into scantily clad females or place them in seductive poses.
It’s been decades since Capcom Fighting Evolution was released, and sensibilities have certainly changed since then. It’s likely that these animations have been removed due to concerns about “sexism” or, more specifically, because ESG policies strictly prohibit the “objectification” of women, particularly women who are attractive, well-endowed, or are revealing skin.
Continuing with these trends, Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 Pro will also have some stages with altered visuals, which may impact PaoPao’s stage, as it features female waitresses walking across the screen which is apparently enough to scrutinize.
Additionally, stage music can now be changed through the EX settings. In Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001, players will have the option to switch between the original and arcade versions of the game, with Evil Ryu, Orochi Iori, Shin Akuma, and Ultimate Rugal now being playable characters.
Capcom has not specified which visuals will be altered or the reasons behind these changes, and it’s unlikely that they will provide any answers.
I defended SNK after the re-release of SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, arguing that the only issues were key artwork censorship and the addition of a disclaimer, thanks to SNK’s role. However, Capcom is now taking censorship to new extremes with Capcom Fighting Collection 2, further illustrating the concerns I raised.
Capcom previously censored E. Honda’s iconic bathhouse stage in a re-release of Street Fighter II. The stage originally featured Japan’s Rising Sun flag on the tiled wall.
While this flag has been used for centuries, it later became associated with the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy, symbolizing imperialism. As a result, for a more globally inclusive product, it was deemed necessary to remove the flag without exception.
Capcom seems set on self-destruction, pushing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) policies to the extreme in new titles while deliberately censoring and sanitizing their classic games to curry favor with BlackRock’s Larry Fink.
If the company is going out of its way to offer modified and inferior versions of products from decades ago, why would consumers choose to buy these altered versions when they can easily acquire and emulate these titles on mobile devices, consoles, or PCs themselves?
