The present and future status of Capcom being a major player in the video game world is still a major mystery. Once the king of console action games, those times have passed with the company taking on a much more mobile focus in recent years. Thanks to its recent financial callings, though, its traditional roots are keeping it afloat while those supposedly easy mobile dollars aren't helping much.
In total over the entire fiscal year, Capcom pulled in roughly 102 billion yen ($1 billion) which marks an 8.6 percent increase over the previous year with a net income of 3,444 billion yen ($33.8 million), a 15.9 percent increase.
Of course, the largest contributor to this upward swing is the success of Monster Hunter 4 in Japan, which sold a whopping 4.1 million copies, a figure generally reserved for the likes of Dragon Quest, Mario and Pokemon. Any questions as to what Capcom's favored franchise is these days?
Capcom also found success in its love for zombies, too. Dead Rising 3 managed to crack 1.2 million sales as one of the premiere Xbox One launch titles, and happily, the wonderful Resident Evil Revelations HD outperformed Capcom's expectations at 1.1 million.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies and Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen were also praised for meeting expectations. DuckTales Remastered was especially called out for over performing as well.
The only major console release to flop was Lost Planet 3, a generic third-person shooter with a global focus outsourced to a company with a bad track record. I can't think of a more fitting game to sum up the problems fans have with Capcom these days.
It's nice to see these kinds of games succeeding, but what about the mobile Capcom games that traditional fans don't care too much for? In its report, Capcom didn't supply any specific results, but it mentioned its slump was "due in part to lack of major titles and the fiercely competitive environment."
What does this success for 2013 mean? A solid Dead Rising game from a trustworthy Western studio, a great Resident Evil game not lost in its own self-importance, a traditional text adventure, a fun throwback platformer to the good old days, and the most widely successful action RPG on the traditional handheld market, all of which succeeded in making fans happy and making Capcom money.
It doesn't take rocket science to realize that Capcom still has fans out there willing to support the games that it is traditionally so good at making. We might be waiting a little impatiently for it to come around, but we are still waiting.
Stop the fancy "global focus." Stop the needless mobile expansion. Ditch the cheap outsourcing, keep budgets in check after the Resident Evil 6 misfire, and use all of those delicious resources to make the games that make your niche, and especially your fans, happy. Square Enix realizes this is the way forward, and it's time for you to as well. Obviously, that is what is keeping your business afloat.
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