At least there’s always Monster Hunter
In a letter discussing Capcom’s five-year outlook, CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto wrote “Our goal is to further strengthen marketing strategies for (1) downloadable content (DLC), (2) mobile contents, (3) online operations, and (4) brand contents … Our next objective is to provide to as many people as possible a variety of products that take full advantage of Capcom’s vast amount of content.”
Even when we’re just talking about marketing strategies, using words like “DLC” and “mobile” in close proximity to “Capcom” raises red flags. I start to get worried given past practices in these areas. Tsujimoto is also looking to aggressively grow the company’s staff, which is to be expected. “I want to build a development framework that can put the right people in the right places,” he said. “This process will reflect an understanding of what consumers want and what types of products have become hits. From now on, I plan to hire at least 100 software developers every year to give us an even more powerful development workforce.”
A separate letter from COO Haruhiro Tsujimoto covered industry changes. “Two key trends are the popularity of smartphones and tablets and the increasingly social nature of games,” he wrote. “Moreover, advances in networks are causing software sales to move from packaged products to digital distribution. This is why Capcom must concentrate on both the quality of our content as well as our services.”
I wish I could gaze into a crystal ball and see the Capcom of five years into the future. Part of me wonders if the company will make it out of this new console generation intact.
