Yoshinori Ono made his triumphant return to Twitter today after a prolonged absence. That absence was due in no small part to a medical ailment that caused Capcom's Street Fighter franchise producer to collapse at a recent Street Fighter x Tekken event in Asia, and sent him to the hospital. Ono's return to tweeting saw him immediately letting fans know he was okay and that the team was hard at work on future Street Fighter x Tekken patch updates, as well as to let everyone know that he'll be stepping down from his role as series producer for the foreseeable future.
Ono didn't specify how long he'd be out, nor who his replacement as head of one of Capcom's biggest game franchises would be, simply saying that "another person" would be in charge of the series for "a while."
Ono's history with the Street Fighter series is a long one, though his role as the front-facing voice of the franchise (especially from the Japanese side) and lead producer of the series has only been in place since Street Fighter IV. Still, Ono's name and boisterous personality are inextricably linked with all things Street Fighter these days, making the idea of an Ono-less Street Fighter a somewhat strange and unfamiliar one.
Ono gave no clues about what he'd be doing in the interim, save but to say that he would be providing "constant support" for those currently working on Street Fighter x Tekken and any future projects. His only clue to future intentions (beyond that of simply recuperating) was to say that while he's out, he'll be thinking "about the new future of fighting game after this."
We here at Giant Bomb wish Ono good health and a speedy recovery, and eagerly await the day when he can bring his personal brand of high octane crazy back to the Street Fighter scene, and resume doing things like recreating the M. Bison monologue from Street Fighter: The Movie, because hey, why the hell not?