Many of you Mega Man fans likely well remember the departure of Keiji Inafune from Capcom and the slew of cancellations that followed. Inafune created the franchise from the ground up, and his departure, even if Capcom chooses to deny it, led to the canning of Mega Man Universe and Mega Man Legends 3, as well as a couple of smaller projects. It’s a blow that still hits home even today.

Recently, Capcom US’s Senior Vice President, Chris Svensson, announced that he was also leaving the company. Svensson was clear that his departure from the company was ultimately his choice and was the result of corporate downsizing and reorganization that was taking place. In a show of unity, Svensson decided that he would leave along with those who were being laid off. It is a sad but noble decision.

Svensson was instrumental in seeing that the fans of Capcom titles in the United States were heard by the corporate bigwigs in Japan, and he has always been a true believer in the power of fans. He was very excited to help bring both Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10 to the US, and he was a key player in helping show the Japanese staff the love that Americans had for the franchise and their desire to see the ill-fated Mega Man Legends 3 come to life.

Also, it was Svensson who met with the man who created the original Street Fighter X Mega Man fan game and helped turn it into an official title.

So, what does this mean for the future of the franchise? It seems like we go from lows to highs and back to lows again. After years of not having any huge titles, we got both Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10 , but Inafune left and most of his projects were canned. After Inafune’s departure, Svensson helped drum up interest in the 25th anniversary and get SFxMM greenlit. But now what? Is the Blue Bomber going to go back into his box again for a while, or is there still some light at the end of the tunnel?