No More New Capcom Franchises for Western Developers

Capcom is one of the Japanese game publishers interested in expanding their appeal on the Western markets, just as the importance of the home market is going down and as more and more revenue can be obtained from North America and Europe. But a more Western appeal seems to be no longer tied with close collaboration with developers based outside of Japan.

In a Question and Answer session that took place as the company presented its latest slate of financial results, representatives of the company said that “We cannot develop a sufficient number of titles without using the resources of these companies. This is why we plan to continue using these alliances,” 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.”

The above phrases are a bit confusing but the thinking at Capcom seems to be that well established franchises, like Resident Evil, Dead Rising or maybe Lost Planet, have clearly designed gameplay mechanics and a set of concepts that guide any new experiences.

These make it harder for even Western developers to create an experience that deviates from what players are expecting. When it comes to new games, Japanese studios are more capable of creating settings and gameplay mechanics that are interesting to players and lead to success.

Considering that the example prompting the new thinking at Capcom is Bionic Commando Rearmed, the company might be planning about reboots more than totally new series. The first Bionic Commando game appeared in 1987 and sparked a series that also came to the Games Boy and the NES in the '90's.

Capcom is set to release Lost Planet 2 and Super Street Fighter IV this year, two titles that will likely attract a lot of gamers both in Japan and in the West.