Rumour: Capcom has to pay Bandai Namco to use Street Fighter name

A rumor has been making the rounds on the internet in the last few hours. It links two major companies, Bandai Namco and Capcom.

According to what has been shared, it all goes back to when the first Street Fighter was released in the 1980s along with the PC Engine / TG-16 port of the game known as Fighting Street. Now, Yoshiki Okamoto, producer of Street Fighter II, has shared the supposed reason for the name change.

Yoshiki Okamoto, sometimes credited as Kihaji Okamoto, is a Japanese video game designer. He is credited with producing popular titles for Konami, including Gyruss and Time Pilot, and for Capcom, including 1942, Gun.Smoke, Final Fight and Street Fighter II.

This is because Namco owns the trademark for the name ‘Street Fight’, and whoever used it would have to pay. In order to avoid diminishing profits from the PC Engine port, a different title was chosen so as not to have to pay more. Along with this, Okamoto adds that this has been maintained over the years and it is very likely that Capcom still has to pay Bandai Namco today for the use of these trademarks in the production and subsequent release of Street Fighter II and III.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Okamoto gives the real reason: Namco owns the trademark for the name ‘Street Fight’, which means any application to use a similar name would have incurred a license fee.