Here’s the top five video game crossovers that need to happen this instant, from Tekken x Street Fighter to a shocking Cooking Mama collab.
We live in a bold, new world of possibilities in gaming. What once used to be considered a forbidden door is now wide open. Sonic teams up with Mario, WWE wrestlers are in Rainbow Six Siege, and everyone and their mother ends up in Fortnite. We're living in the future, people! However, our dark work is far from over and there's a number of video game crossovers and collabs we still need.
And whether we're talking about collaborations or full-on new games, here's five dream match-ups we think need to happen, sooner rather than later. Let's look at the tale of the tape.
Video game crossovers and collabs
WWE x NetherRealm Studios
With the likes of John Cena's Peacemaker soon to be in Mortal Kombat 1, the idea of WWE Superstars in fighting games no longer seems far fetched. However, it was only seven or so years ago that the idea seemed almost outrageous. Or so we thought, until one NetherRealm Studios game broke the door open.
Released in 2016, WWE Mortals was a mobile fighting game created by the house of Mortal Kombat. Similar in style to the studio's mobile iteration of MKX, Immortals had one major hook: WWE performers reimagined in spectacular fashion. It sounds dumb, but--for the most part--NRS managed to create a compelling game world based around the altar egos of Triple H, The Rock, and John Cena. I'd love to see a return to the WWE Immortals universe in a console-based fighter.
Oh, and bring Daniel Bryan as a goat-man back. That was rad.
Blizzard x Hearthstone
It was bound to happen that Hearthstone would eventually outgrow the Warcraft franchise. Take this from a guy who lives and breathes WoW lore, there's very few stones left unturned for the beloved card game to flip over at this point. It seems obvious that the next step is to expand that Hearthstone universe into Blizzard Microsoft's own catalog of games. Overwatch is ripe for some card game action.
Of course, the major problem with such video game crossovers is making it work organically. In a game based around Warcraft RPG classes, how does a shooter fit in? Simple: Just make Overwatch as a franchise its own class, featuring unique card types and abilities. Heroes of the Storm has shown us that there's money in crossing over the worlds of Overwatch and Hearthstone, so why not one more?
Related articles
Halo x Starcraft
Well, it's certainly a day to talk about Microsoft franchises, huh? Now that the Blizzard purchase is complete we can have more realistic daydreams about which potential franchises owned by XBox can work together. And, if we're being honest, the most obvious one is Starcraft and Halo.
That pairing could work in either genre if we're being honest. While unique, Halo Wars never quite scratched the itch of an RTS. Likewise, Starcraft feels ripe for a shooter setting. Give me some space-time continuum stretching and drop Jim Raynor into the world of Halo while Master Chief faces off against the Zerg.
Sometimes the most obvious video game crossovers are the best ones.
Tekken x Street Fighter... For realsies
There are moments in this industry where you just remember where you were at when something got announced. For me, I remember exactly where I was in 2011 when Street Fighter x Tekken revealed itself to the world. And while that game has detractors, it more succeeded than failed at bringing the world of Tekken into the streets. It's time to bring this video game collab to the world once more.
So, when's the favor going to be returned? The world waits continually for the much-rumored Tekken x Street Fighter, with drips and drabs of info coming out every so often. Heck, we even got to see character models by the Tekken team of Ryu himself. It's time to pull the trigger, ya'll. Fighting games have hit their new golden age, so let's get the team back together.
Meat Boy x Cooking Mama
..... What? Too obvious? Come on, it would make the perfect horror game. I can think of no better video game collab.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for esports news and gaming info.