Capcom plans to grow Mega Man, Devil May Cry and Ace Attorney into ‘core IPs’ like Street Fighter and Resident Evil
The publisher wants to “enhance their brand power” through new releases, remakes and ports
Capcom plans to build Mega Man, Devil May Cry and Ace Attorney up to the status of “core IPs” like its more popular series.
That’s according to Capcom president and COO Haruhiro Tsujimoto, who recently discussed the company’s growth strategies as part of a new 86-page corporate report.
In the report, Tsujimoto identified Resident Evil, Monster Hunter and Street Fighter as Capcom’s three biggest franchises, describing them as the company’s ‘core IPs’.
Noting that Capcom has a long-term goal of reaching 100 million game sales per year, Tsujimoto explained that while these three ‘core IPs’ are key to reaching this milestone, Capcom needs to grow other series to accompany them.
“At Capcom, we aim to sustain our KPI of 10% or better annual operating profit growth along with our long-term goal of annual software sales of 100 million units,” he wrote. “To improve our chance of success, we are working to resolve business challenges, issue by issue.
“Our efforts are focused on core IP such as the Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, and Street Fighter franchises, and mapping out mainline series entries and sequels, remakes, new IP, and ports of content to the latest hardware. We consistently release two to three major new titles each year, but recognize the need to grow our pipeline going forward. ”
To grow this pipeline, Tsujimoto explained, Capcom is focusing on some of its other series, and plans to eventually grow their player bases up to the point that they too can be considered ‘core IPs’.
“Capcom owns a wealth of globally popular brands, such as Mega Man, Devil May Cry, and Ace Attorney,” he said. “We aim to expand our user base and improve our performance through new releases, remakes, and ports of titles in these series to new hardware. By enhancing brand power and cultivating loyal fan bases, we will grow these into core IPs.
“The people developing this content are our world-class in-house creators. For the past three years, we have made strengthening our human capital a management priority, and to this end, have been training and recruiting personnel to expand our development structure.
“Previously, we consolidated our game development in Osaka to promote efficiency, however, to further strengthen its structure, we are currently constructing a new development facility next to our head office, slated for completion in 2027. We have also acquired nearby land, with future expansion in mind.”
The Resident Evil series is currently Capcom’s biggest seller, with around 170 million units sold since the first game was released in 1996. This is followed by Monster Hunter with 120 million units sold since 2004, and Street Fighter with 56 million units sold since 1987.
By comparison, the Mega Man series has sold 43 million units since 1987, Devil May Cry has sold 33 million since 2001, and Ace Attorney has sold 13 million since 2001.
