Capcom Co., Ltd.

Type	Public
Traded as	TYO: 9697
Industry	Video games, entertainment
Founded	June 11, 1983[1]
Headquarters	Osaka, Japan San Mateo, California, USA
Key people	Kenzo Tsujimoto[2] (Chairman and CEO) Haruhiro Tsujimoto[2] (President and COO) Hiroshi Tobisawa[3] (Director in charge of Overseas Business) Katsuhiko Ichii[4] (Head of R&D Management Group)
Products	Complete list of games
Revenue	¥66.8 billion / US$728.1 million (2010)[5][6]
Net income	¥2.2 billion / US$23.6 million (2010)[5][6]
Employees	1,930 (2010)[7]
Website	Global Capcom site

Capcom Co., Ltd. (株式会社カプコン, Kabushiki-gaisha Kapukon^?), or just Capcom, is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games,^[7] known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Ace Attorney, Darkstalkers, Dead Rising, Devil May Cry, Ghosts'n Goblins, Lost Planet, Mega Man and Monster Hunter.^[8] Its head office is in Chūō-ku, Osaka. Originally established in 1983,^[9] it has since become an international enterprise with branches and subsidiaries in North America, Europe, and East Asia.^[10]

History[link]

The original companies that spawned Capcom's Japanese branch were I.R.M Corporation founded on May 30, 1979,^[1] as well as its subsidiary Japan Capsule Computer Co., Ltd., both of which were devoted to the manufacturing and distribution of electronic game machines.^[9] The two companies underwent a name change to Sambi Co., Ltd. in September 1981,^[9] while Capcom Co., Ltd. itself was first established on June 11, 1983,^[1] for the purpose of taking over the internal sales department.^[11]

In January 1989, the old affiliate company Capcom Co., Ltd. merged with Sambi Co., Ltd., resulting in the current Japanese branch.^[9] The name Capcom is an abbreviation of "Capsule Computer", a term coined by the company to describe the arcade machines it solely manufactured in its early years, designed to set themselves apart from personal computers that were becoming widespread at that time.^[12] The word capsule alludes to how Capcom likened its game software to "a capsule packed to the brim with gaming fun", as well as to the company's desire to protect its intellectual property with a hard outer shell, preventing illegal copies and inferior imitations.^[12]

While Capcom's first product was the coin-operated Little League from July 1983, its first real video game, the arcade title Vulgus, was released in May 1984.^[9] Beginning with a Nintendo Entertainment System port of 1942 published in December 1985, the company started to venture into the market of home console video games,^[9] which became its main business segment a few years later.^[13] Since then, Capcom created 15 multi-million-selling game series, the most successful of which is Resident Evil.^[8]

In 1994, Capcom adapted its Street Fighter series of fighting games into a film of the same name. While commercially successful, the production received almost universal criticism. A 2002 adaptation of its Resident Evil series faced similar criticism but was also successful in theaters. The company sees films as a way to build sales for its video games.^[14]

Games[link]

Capcom launched its Street Fighter franchise in 1987. The series of fighting games are among the most popular in their genre, and have sold over 30 million units.

That same year, 1987, the company introduced its Mega Man series. Selling nearly 30 million units, the series serves as Capcom's flagship franchise.

The company developed the inaugural entry in its Resident Evil survival horror series in 1996. The series has achieved enormous success, selling nearly 50 million units.

Following work on the second entry in the Resident Evil series, Capcom began work on a Resident Evil game for the new PlayStation 2. Radically different from the existing series, Capcom decided to spin off the game into its own series, Devil May Cry. While it released the first two entries exclusively for the PlayStation 2, the company brought further entries to non-Sony consoles. The series as a whole has seen sales in excess of 10 million units.

Capcom also initiated its Monster Hunter series on the PlayStation 2, in 2004. The games have seen sales of over 20 million units on a variety of consoles.

While often criticized for its reliance on existing franchises, the company developed several titles for the Xbox 360 based on original intellectual property: Lost Planet: Extreme Condition and Dead Rising.^[15] Each title has since spawned at least one sequel.

Controversy[link]

Recently, Capcom has been criticised by fans for having to pay for additional content which is already available within the game's files.^[16] A prime example is in the case of Street Fighter X Tekken, where twelve characters advertised as downloadable content were found completed within the disc. Capcom has defended the practice.^[17]

In addition, the company has faced criticism from the gaming community for re-releasing the same game within a short period with minor changes or additions.^{[18][better source needed]}

Corporate structure[link]

Development studios[link]

In the first few years after its establishment, the Japanese branch of Capcom had three development groups referred to as "Planning Rooms", led by Tokuro Fujiwara, Takashi Nishiyama and Yoshiki Okamoto, respectively.^[19][20] Later, games developed internally used to be created by several numbered "Production Studios", each assigned to different games.^[21][22] Starting in 2002, the development process was reformed to better share technologies and expertise, and all of the individual studios were gradually restructured into bigger departments responsible for different tasks.^[22] While there are self-contained departments for the creation of arcade, pachinko and pachislo, online, and mobile games, the Consumer Games R&D Division instead is an amalgamation of subsections in charge of various game development stages.^[22][23][24] In addition to these internal teams, Capcom also commissions outside development studios to ensure a steady output of titles.^[25][26] However, following bad sales of Dark Void and Bionic Commando, the company's management has decided to limit outsourcing to sequels and newer versions of installments in existing franchises, reserving the development of original titles for its in-house teams.^[27] The production of games, budgets, and platforms supported are decided upon in development approval meetings, attended by the company management and the Marketing, Sales, and Quality Control Departments.^[22]

Branches and subsidiaries[link]

Apart from the head office building and the R&D building of Capcom Co., Ltd., both located in Chūō-ku, Osaka,^[10] the Japanese parent company also has a branch office in the Shinjuku Mitsui Building in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo.^[28] It also has the Ueno Facility. a branch office in Iga, Mie Prefecture.^[10] The international Capcom Group currently encompasses 15 subsidiaries in Japan, North America, Europe, and East Asia.^[10][22] Affiliated companies include Koko Capcom Co., Ltd. in South Korea, Street Fighter Film, LLC in the United States, and Dellgamadas Co., Ltd.^[22]

Game-related media[link]

In addition to the development and publishing of home, online, mobile, arcade, pachinko, and pachislo games, the company publishes strategy guides,^[9] maintains its own arcade centers, and licenses its franchise and character properties for use in tie-in products, movies, television series, and stage performances.^[13] Suleputer, an in-house marketing and music label established in cooperation with Sony Music Entertainment Intermedia in 1998, publishes CDs, DVDs, and other media based on Capcom's games.^[29] An annual private media summit called Captivate, renamed from Gamers Day in 2008, is traditionally used as a platform for new game and business announcements.^[30]

See also[link]

	Osaka portal
	Companies portal
	Video games portal

• Arika
• Crafts & Meister
• CyberConnect2
• Game Republic
• Ignition Entertainment
• Inti Creates
• Platinum Games

References[link]

External links[link]

• Global Capcom site
• Capcom Store
• Capcom-Unity