Capcom Examines Acquisitions, Avoids Merger

With Xbox 360 titles like Lost Planet: Extreme Condition and Dead Rising racking up big sales in the West, Capcom's statement to shareholders was simple: go where the money is. Corporate officer Kazuhiko Abe outlined the company's performance for shareholders today, saying that of the 1+ million copies sold of the two Western-focused titles, 90% were unloaded outside of Japan. "It is important for Capcom to turn its efforts to increase its share in the overseas market where much of the growth in the home video game and mobile content markets are taking place," said Capcom CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto, according to Next Generation. With a half-dozen Wii titles on the way, in addition to 14 planned Nintendo DS games and the anticipated Devil May Cry 4 (PS3, X360, PC), Capcom is in no hurry for a merger. Tsujimoto noted that the company is more interested in the prospect of forming partnerships with overseas developers in order to exploit the expanding market. "There have been many mergers and acquisitions in the industry in recent years with companies attempting to secure popular content or to expand, " said Tsujimoto, "but Capcom is currently not envisioning any mergers with [Japanese] game companies or toy makers." Fellow Japanese publisher SEGA has been leading the charge out West. The company has struck several deals with overseas developers, such as BioWare in the case of Sonic RPG for the Nintendo DS, and GasPoweredGames for a new PC roleplaying game. For its part, Capcom recently partnered with four Western developers to publish several new downloadable games--such as Backbone Entertainment's retouching of Capcom's Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Big Rooster's version of Games Workshops' board game Talisman, and WizKid's Rocketman--on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 online networks.