The creator of Mortal Kombat once requested to add a Street Fighter cameo to the series and was shot down by the people at Capcom, but there is still a chance that the crossover could happen in a future game. The Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter series were once rivals in the arcades, with the former relying on over the top violence in to draw in the crowds, while the latter was known more for its tight controls and addictive gameplay.
The end of the console wars meant franchise rivalries have cooled over the years and even Mario and Sonic have put aside their differences to star in sports games together, most recently in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter series continue to thrive in the modern era of gaming, but there has been a distinct lack of interaction between the two franchises. The casts of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter have had cameos in different games, but they have yet to cross over with each other.
Yoshinori Ono has been producing games in the Street Fighter series since Street Fighter IV. Ono was recently interviewed by Eurogamer and was asked about a previous comment made by Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon, who said that he proposed a cameo appearance for a Street Fighter character in a Mortal Kombat game, but was turned down by Capcom. It seems that the idea of seeing Ryu or Chun-Li gruesomely killed in a Mortal Kombat fatality might have been too much for the people at Capcom.
"It's true that a proposal for a Street Fighter character in Mortal Kombat was rejected by Capcom. But it wasn't me personally! There were many people at the company that felt that it wasn't a good fit for our characters. I actually met Ed at the Brazil game show and spoke to him personally about it. So it's true - but I didn't make the decision!"
Ono was asked about the possibility of there being a future crossover between the Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter series.
Yoshinori Ono: We don't necessarily rule anything out. We've had our share of crossovers over the years - Marvel vs. Capcom, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. From Ed Boon's side they had Injustice that had various universes colliding. It didn't work out this time, but Capcom is interested in doing that kind of thing. If we can get something we feel good about, we could move quite quickly to make that happen.
It has become increasingly common for fighting games to include crossovers from different franchises, as Mortal Kombat 11 has added the Terminator as a DLC character, with the Joker and Spawn arriving next year. The Street Fighter series has crossed over with everything from Marvel to SNK, with Ryu and Chun-Li making numerous cameo appearances in different titles. The Tekken series has got in on the action with The Walking Dead, as Negan is a playable character in Tekken 7. The Soul Calibur and Super Smash Bros. series are well-known for their cameos, as the fighting game genre lends itself well to the idea of bringing warriors from different franchises together to do battle.
All is not lost for a possible Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter crossover, as there is a chance that it could happen in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Masahiro Sakurai has been given access to numerous different series for his latest opus, with the most recent addition being Terry Bogard from the Fatal Fury series. Ryu and Ken are already playable in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and there are still more DLC characters to come. It's possible that Scorpion or Sub-Zero could arrive in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and give fans the true crossover fighting game experience that they have waited for since the '90s.
Source: Eurogamer