Yoshinori Ono, best recognized as the force that largely pushed for the return of the Street Fighter franchise with the release of Street Fighter IV, has been moved from his position within Capcom. The successor of his position is none other than Ryozo Tsujimoto, son of the founder and current CEO of Capcom, Kenzo Tsujimoto, and the brother of current COO and president of Capcom, Haruhiro Tsujimoto. Ryozo Tsujimoto is best known for his work as a producer for the Monster Hunter series.
This news has been reported by Eventhubs, which has been watching for and recording position changes through Capcom’s financial reports. The title for Yoshinori Ono has changed from “Head of Consumer Games Development Division 2” to “General Manager of Department 2, Consumer Games Development Division 3”, whereas the title of Ryozo Tsujimoto has changed to “Managing Corporate Officer, Head of Consumer Games Development Division 2 and Mobile Online Development Division”. While Yoshinori Ono has been moved down in the past due to health reasons, this does not seem to be the cause of this change.
It is speculated that poor sales of Street Fighter V and Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite may have led the company to restructure their management, moving Yoshinori Ono as to prevent further losses. Ryozo Tsujimto, however, has been on a roll with the release of Monster Hunter World smashing records in the company and launching the franchise into the spotlight internationally with the most sales Capcom has ever seen for a title. Much of the new management can be seen in decisions made since April, when Ryozo Tsujimoto took the reins of Division 2, and multiple character reveals shown at EVO were released the following day. Despite this, Yoshinori Ono still wields influence at the company, and had been seen teasing a new project earlier in the year. It remains to be seen what the effects of the new management at Capcom’s fighting game division will have.