Summary
TheCapcomRenaissance has become a pretty common way to describe the company’s last decade or so of business. While it floundered in the seventh console generation as it failed in remaking acclaimed properties for Western audiences and drove beloved franchises into the ground, it didn’t take long for the Japanese giant to bounce back and realise exactly what its fans wanted.
We wanted Capcom to capitalise on its deep well of existing IP and pay homage to a legacy that so many other giants in the medium take for granted. Known for creating Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Street Fighter, Monster Hunter, Phoenix Wright, Mega Man, Dino Crisis, and countless other iconic properties, Capcom decided to look back at the games in its extensive back catalog and redefine them for the modern era. That came in many forms, with remakes, remasters, and entirely new entries that sought to further what these franchises were at their core.
What Makes Capcom Such A Special Company In 2024?
This all started with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard in 2017, a game which both reinvented the survival horror franchise and acted as a statement of intent for Capcom’s next decade. Around the same time, we saw Monster Hunter World, Street Fighter 5, and a slew of other titles which, if flawed at times, understood the reverence we have for Capcom’s history.
With no signs of ill-advised business decisions requiring millions invested in live-service efforts destined to crash and burn, Capcom’s strategy seemed safer and far more measured than the moves we’ve seen from Sony, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, and even Sega. The result of this was games that sold millions and were subject to critical acclaim, and for the most part, this trend has continued deep into 2024.
This year saw the release ofDragon’s Dogma 2, which has already shifted millions of copies and received rave reviews, while 2023 was home to bothResident Evil 4andStreet Fighter 6which were considered new benchmarks in their respective series. Capcom has developed a cadence of healthy development cycles, reasonable sales expectations, and a top attitude towards its workers byraising wagesacross the board in accordance with rising profits.
Yes, there are elements of greed in the way it pushes microtransactions and fails to acknowledge how these things are viewed in the current climate, but compared to the tragic standard of industry layoffs and studio closures, it feels like paradise.
Industry fanGenki on Twitterpointed out recently that last year was Capcom’s most successful ever with net sales up 21 percent, operating income up 12.1 percent and over 45 million units sold as it worked to attract both new and existing fans to its repertoire of IP.
Capcom seems to have a keen understanding of its strengths and weaknesses, and the scale of modern game dev to the point where it never seems to overstretch or place bets it can’t cash, which ultimately leads to layoffs and cancelled projects if anything goes wrong. There isn’t another company like it in the triple-A space right now, and I wish we had more big players striking this balance.
Should More Companies In Video Games Learn From Capcom?
After the closure of Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin by Microsoft earlier this week, a lot of eyes are glancing over the games industry andwondering if it’s worth staying hopeful for it anymore, or if unsustainable development practices are bound to swallow it whole. In response, a lot of people have been pointing out Capcom as a prime example of how major companies can not only turn around their fortunes, but treat workers, players, and creators with the respect they deserve instead of punishing them after the slightest sign of failure.
It is obviously more complicated than saying ‘just be like Capcom’, but there is definitely a nugget of truth to it all, and its success is so prescient because it was willing to listen and change instead of continually answering the whims of greedy shareholders and chasing a conveyor belt of trends bound to lead to oblivion. We have to hope that there is a stronger way for this medium to exist than perpetually hanging off a cliff, and Capcom is proof that there is a way to make bigger and better games and still thrive.
Capcom is releasing blockbuster franchise entries, lovingly crafted remaster collections, and is constantly asking consumers what they’d like to see next or what properties they think deserve to be brought back to life. We have no way of knowing if this advice will be listened to, but Capcom is still being proactive about the role we play in its existence, not treating us like dirt and acting like a failure to support them is a reason why games are cancelled and studios are closed.
Things can be different. The majority of big players in this industry just don’t want them to be.
