Capcom says it would decline a Microsoft acquisition, but PC remains its "main platform"

[midian182]

In brief: Capcom has given PC gamers some good news by confirming that the platform will remain a central focus of its gaming ambitions, but that doesn't mean the Japanese company would be interested in a takeover by Microsoft. The less-welcome news is president Haruhiro Tsujimoto's suggestion that modern games are too cheap and should have their price increased.

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Tsujimoto said that Capcom's goal is to sell 100 million copies of its games within a single year.

During Apple's Wonderlust event earlier this month, Cupertino revealed that a number of modern console and PC games were coming to the iPhone 15 Pro. There will be native support for some massive titles, including Resident Evil Village and the Resident Evil 4 remake.

Tsujimoto confirmed that these "high quality" mobile releases will count toward Capcom's 100-million sales target. But that doesn't mean PC releases are being pushed into the background.

"For many years, PC has been our main platform," Tsujimoto said. "We are currently selling in 230 countries and regions through this PC platform."

"While we will continue to use the PC as our main platform, I hope to achieve our 100-million-copies goal with contribution from triple-A-type titles on smartphones."

Following the leak of internal Microsoft documents last week that revealed the Windows maker was considering buying Sega, Bungie, IO Interactive, Nintendo, Valve, and other companies, Tsujimoto was asked how Capcom would feel about being bought by the tech giant. It seems the president would "gracefully decline" any acquisition offer. "I believe it would be better if we were equal partners," he added.

Tsujimoto also talked about Capcom's own policy of acquiring companies. He said the organization prefers organic growth over purchasing smaller studios. "I also believe we can utilize external partners," he said, "but we have no intention of acquiring companies."

In a separate interview with Nikkei, Tsujimoto talked about how much more expensive game development has become since the days of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, or Famicom as the console was called when it launched in Japan in 1983. He noted that despite development now being "100 times more costly" due to factors such as wages, the selling price of games has not kept pace and still comes in at around $50 to $70.

"Personally, I feel that game prices are too low. Development costs are about 100 times higher than during the Famicom era, but software prices have not gone up that much," said Tsujimoto. "There is also a need to raise wages. Considering the fact that wages are rising in the industry as a whole, I think raising unit prices is a healthy option for business."

The year so far has been a good one for Capcom. Both the Resident Evil 4 remake and Street Fighter 6 won rave reviews and made it onto our latest Best PC Games You Should be Playing list.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100279-capcom-would-decline-microsoft-acquisition-but-pc-remains.html

 

[Peter Farkas]

Too cheap my a$$.... $50-$70 dollar for games and we get alpha stage, untested crap that takes 1-2 years to become a polished version 1.0 through regular patches. yeah sure...
Ever since developer studios became public corporations and shifted their focus from entertainment to ROI and dividends, the whole industry started to decay. It was great one or two decades ago when gaming was a niche thing. We got good stuff back then. Today, everyone is a gamer, and the industry became a money making machine.

 

[Atmajaya2020]

"too cheap..?"
Looks like I don't have to wait for a discount to buy games from Capcom..

 

[RudyBob]

Depends on how you define cheap, if it's the games substance I would have to agree

 

[RandomWAN]

The money they sink into the games' development certainly doesn't show in the finished product. They spend more than ever on game development, but we get less finished release builds than ever. Often times the public is operating as paying beta testers and he thinks the games are "too cheap." His games are cheap, but not because they charge less for them. They keep rereleasing the old IP with a fresh coat of paint, ensure that things outside the technical upgrades are taking reduced development time, but we should pay more for these unoriginal rehashes.

 

[Kam7r]

I can help you editors !! spend less in marketing BS and more on games quality, you save money and more ppl buy your games coz they're now good! problem solved yw

 

[arrowflash]

Too cheap my a$$.... $50-$70 dollar for games and we get alpha stage, untested crap that takes 1-2 years to become a polished version 1.0 through regular patches. yeah sure...
Ever since developer studios became public corporations and shifted their focus from entertainment to ROI and dividends, the whole industry started to decay. It was great one or two decades ago when gaming was a niche thing. We got good stuff back then. Today, everyone is a gamer, and the industry became a money making machine.

Public corporations or not, before the internet and broadband became so easily accessible, game companies were forced to deliver actually finished and properly tested products at launch. Game beta tester used to be an actual profession. Now game companies can get away with 100+ GB day one patches and consumers are the testers.

Of course easily accessible internet and broadband brought much good, but this was one of the huge downsides.

 

[3ogdy]

"There is also a need to raise wages. Considering the fact that wages are rising in the industry as a whole, I think raising unit prices is a healthy option for business."

There is also a need to raise MY wage, you know, the one I'd be using to pay for your overpriced games. Considering the fact that my wage isn't keeping pace with the ridiculous" $70 price tag for a single game " issue, I believe that piracy may prevail.

If that doesn't bring you to your senses, then there's always the option to file for Chapter 11.

Also, releasing" $70+" games in Alpha / Beta stage is unacceptable. I don't remember getting paid to be a beta tester for any game.

See? Now that I'm thinking about it, you should be paying me for releasing incomplete games that have become nothing but digital stores for colorful skins that are "apparently" worth real money that I work for.

Need I mention Cyberpunk or CoD Mobile?
Maybe FNAF: Security Breach, No Man's Sky, FF XIV?
Or maybe AC:Unity, Sonic Boom and Fallout 76?

All full of issues at launch, yet developers DID ask for money from their beta testers!

Oh, and don't get me started with the damn DLCs and loot boxes that allow you to break a game up into pieces and sell them apart for more profits!

 

[MaestroIT]

Those companies who declare they won't sell are probably going to sell soon

 

[Nintenboy01]

Too cheap my a$$.... $50-$70 dollar for games and we get alpha stage, untested crap that takes 1-2 years to become a polished version 1.0 through regular patches. yeah sure...
Ever since developer studios became public corporations and shifted their focus from entertainment to ROI and dividends, the whole industry started to decay. It was great one or two decades ago when gaming was a niche thing. We got good stuff back then. Today, everyone is a gamer, and the industry became a money making machine.

To be fair Capcom's games and PC ports are generally of good quality without the horrendous stutter or performance issues you see in other games (cough Jedi Survivor cough). The recent Separate Ways DLC for RE4 was also great value for $10.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Inflation has devalued everyone's money so pricing going up for everything is inevitable.

That said, games can be fun without movie-level production values that cost millions to create. Too many studios are chasing the epically large and hyper-realistic games that *can* sell a ton of units. That's why costs have increased 100X from "it has to fit on a 1 MB cartridge" days.