Capcom has slashed its profits forecast by 50 percent following a tough attempt to break into the mobile market.
It had originally intended to pull in ¥6.8 billion ($65 million) for the fiscal year which ended this week, but it is now reducing that figure to ¥3.3 billion ($32 million). A press release on the game publisher's official website addresses its plans to push for a more efficient way of making games.
"Due to rapid changes taking place in the market for games, Capcom is building a sound base for earnings by reorganizing the product development framework and improving development processes. These are two core elements of the company's operations.
The objective of these activities is to earn consistent earnings in each fiscal year. However, these initiatives have not yet started to produce benefits mainly in the Mobile Contents."
Because of its struggles to break into the mobile market like it had intended to, Capcom was forced to post a "special loss" of ¥5 billion ($48.6 million) for "business structural improvement expenses."
The HD market had not been working out for Capcom with many games coming up short of project figures likes Resident Evil 6 and DmC, and rather than adapting the core games it was good at making to match the modern world, Capcom took a risky bet that the mobile market would be the place to secure its future. The decision irked quite a few of its fans, and it has probably irked a few investors by now as well.
The gamble has resulted in a company that pulled in a record ¥101.5 billion ($985.8 million) in revenue but still can't reach the financial goals it sets for itself.
The console gaming market also dried up for Capcom as well with Monster Hunter Frontier G performing below what it was expecting. If the mobile and high end console scenes are not Capcom's forte, where should it focus?
To nobody's surprise, though, Monster Hunter 4 remained the company's biggest money maker, and it is a game that caters to the crowd who have loved Capcom for ages on a platform they adore. With its success and recent news of Square Enix doing some soul searching to recapture its niche, isn't it time for Capcom to do the same? This year's reboot of Strider went a long way to restoring faith in the company. Just sayin'…
The Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita are more than capable of carrying quality games in line with the company's legacy while it gets its feet back on the ground. Onimusha, Resident Evil, Dino Crisis, Ace Attorney, Devil May Cry, Street Fighter, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Bionic Commando… Mega Man… Legends 3. I would be proud to store any one of those games on my handhelds of choice. Let's see it happen, Capcom.
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