Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is out and it’s pretty disappointing, which means that it’s now time for the inquest to begin. And right on cue, industry sleuth Liam Robertson has uploaded a video outlining some of things that went wrong with the crossover brawler’s development. The information apparently comes courtesy of Capcom employees, but while the source does have a very good track record, it’s always worth erring on the side of caution with stories like this.

Nevertheless, the things that Robertson reveals are quite eye opening. He claims that the superhero sequel was developed on a budget less than that assigned to Street Fighter V’s DLC team. It’s unclear whether he’s referring to a single season of Street Fighter V support or the lifetime investment that Capcom’s putting into its flagship fighter, but either way the sum is likely to be frighteningly low for a modern PlayStation 4 game, which would explain a lot.

There are a lot of reused assets and animations in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, which is the kind of corner cutting you’d associate with a shoestring budget. According to Robertson, upper-management just didn’t care much about the game until Chun-Li’s face became a source of ridicule; it then poured a few extra resources into the project to get it fixed up before launch. DLC characters like Monster Hunter were apparently finished months ago, but removed from the final release.

Again, while we haven’t been able to verify any of this information for ourselves, it all sounds fairly feasible to us. To be honest, though, it’s actually increased our appreciation of the game – like, the core fighting is pretty decent all things told, and if it really was developed on a budget smaller than some DLC packs, then that’s kinda impressive in a roundabout way. Still, this game should have so easily been a slam-dunk – only Capcom could cock up a crossover featuring one of the biggest brands in the world.

[source youtube.com]