14 DAY TRIAL // Capcom has apparently decided to develop all new videogame intellectual properties in Japan, its home territory. This decision is a direct consequence of the disappointing results that titles developed by Western studios, like GRIN, achieved. The non-Japan studios with which Capcom collaborates will be only tasked to create sequels for the lower-end franchises the publisher owns.
Harushito Tsujimoto, who is the president of the company, said that “Our experience with Bionic Commando has demonstrated the difficulty of outsourcing the development of new titles to overseas companies,” adding that “We are considering ways to separate the roles of activities in Japan and overseas. We plan to develop new titles primarily in Japan. Overseas companies may be used mostly to develop titles for existing game series with well-established characters and universal themes. Overseas companies will also handle certain parts and/or line-ups of such games.”
Bionic Commando, which was created by now defunct GRIN, was released in May 2009 and widely panned by critics, but never managed to get a lost of sales. The studio was developing a lot of titles at the same time and that might have contributed to the low quality. A similar opinion related to collaborations with Western developers has also been expressed by Jun Takeuchi, who is the main producer of the Resident Evil series.
In recent years, most Japanese publishers have laid out plans to appeal more to the Western game markets, as their native one continues to shrink. Square Enix acted by purchasing Eidos and taking over publishing for such titles like Supreme Commander 2, while Capcom aimed to introduce partnerships between studios in and out of Japan. That initiative seems now to be a bit hobbled by the new rule that allows the West only to create sequels.