Capcom Talks Takeovers and Buyouts, Plotting More Sports Titles to Increase Western Appeal

Japanese publisher Capcom has revealed that it plans to pursue "friendly acquisitions and partnerships" with developers worldwide as it strives to increase games sales in North America and Europe, though it will not merge with a major Japanese publisher.

"There are many independent developers overseas with genius development capabilities," explained Mega Man creator and Capcom R&D head Kenji Inafune. "Collaborating with these developed will firmly establish out position as 'Capcom of the world' and further strengthen the title brand."

Part of those plans include "collaborating with companies with an already established record for developing sport-related games," as the company previously did with Camelot on We Love Golf! (Wii) and Milestone on Moto GP 07 (PS2).

Yet despite the emphasis on working with other companies, Capcom claimed it has "no plans to merge with any major Japanese video game publishers or toy manufacturers in the foreseeable future since it is unlikely to contribute to sales expansions overseas."

"Overseas markets account for a staggering 80% of the current video game market," the company wrote in its 2008 Annual Report. According to Capcom, as of March 31, 2008, the North American video game market was worth $10 billion, Europe's was worth $9.9 billion, and Japan's was valued at $4.3 billion.

Faylor: It's rather interesting how Capcom's focus on the overseas market and Western involvement correlates with recent statements by PlatinumGames boss Atushi Inaba, in which he claimed that "Japan needs to be more creative." Plus, Capcom goes a step further by providing hard numbers to prove how important international sales are.