Capcom May Not Make Sequels to Games That Don't Sell Over 2 Million Copies

[Hellravager]

Making me hate you capcom

Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/10/...million-copies

Capcom Producer Yoshinori Ono has stated that the company would be unlikely to make a sequel to a game that doesn't sell at least 2 million copies.

"For instance, if a game doesn't sell over 2 million copies, then we'd have to put the brakes on any plans for a sequel," Ono said in an interview with Famitsu (spotted by Eventhubs). "All that means is that we weren't capable enough. And all we can do after that is to reflect on the experience, take what we can learn from it, and try to apply those lessons on some other title."

[Edge-]

Capcom

Business decisions which make a lick of sense

The two are not compatible. I get that Japanese companies make a ton of terrible decisions on a global scale because they think the whole world works like Japan, but Capcom is a special egg.

Have you seen their RE: Revelations 2 pricing?

Episodic release with 4 episodes, each priced at $6. So $24 for all 4 episodes individually.

"Season pass" (they just called it a bundle) for $25, so $1 more expensive than each episode individually (this is all digital).

After all 4 episodes release, a physical copy will be released at retail for $40.

Yup, business decisions that make sense.

[Jester Joe]

I mean...technically it sounds nice, saying that "We failed if we didn't sell that well".

That being said, it sounds silly to not make a sequel to a game that even sells 1.5 million copies.

Capcom's a bit weird.

[Tiev]

If Capcom played dota, they'd be in the trench tier.

[Deleted]

Capcom makes stupid statement, more at 11.

What does that second bit even mean really? Lessons learned making one title/franchise aren't necessarily transferable... If they fluff the mechanics/artstyle/setting/story of a survival horror title (COUGH-Resident Evil-COUGH), nothing about that can be used to improve a fighting game. Just fucking stop and remake Resident Evil 2 with new art already.

[Tech614]

While Capcom is guilty of many dumb decisions what was said is not one of them.

Not making AAA sequels for games that don't sell 2 mil+ sounds like a smart decision to me.

What they should be doing is releasing more niche/smaller scale games with all of their IPs they are leaving for dead. Most of them don't need full on AAA releases, and would be plenty profitable for them selling in the 100-500k range if they would just make them.

[Florena]

I've been done with Capcom since Megaman Legends 3 was cancelled. =( Come on you can give the classic and X series gratuitous sequels but can't give us one more Legends to wrap up the story?

[Eats Compost]

Whether that makes sense depends entirely on what sort of game we're talking about. If their super ultra holiday season blockbuster doesn't sell over 2mil, maybe that's underperformance. But they have so many titles that would be radically over-performing if they ever came close to 2 million. And seriously, it's not like they need those numbers to make a lot of money off many titles.

At least Monster Hunter and Ace Attorney will continue to exist by way of great Japanese sales. The localizations are what worry me.

[Jester Joe]

Whether that makes sense depends entirely on what sort of game we're talking about. If their super ultra holiday season blockbuster doesn't sell over 2mil, maybe that's underperformance. But they have so many titles that would be radically over-performing if they ever came close to 2 million. And seriously, it's not like they need those numbers to make a lot of money off many titles.

At least Monster Hunter and Ace Attorney will continue to exist by way of great Japanese sales. The localizations are what worry me.

Monster Hunter I'm not too worried about. Ace Attorney though seems to be struggling for US, since the last one even barely made it here, digital only and what not.

[MMKing]

That is just a mindless generalization. I don't play many capcom games myself, but one would think that % return on investment is a far more important figure to go by.

[Magpai]

THIS JUST IN: Business makes product development decision based on sales. Hellravager steps up as leading voice of outrage.

[Eats Compost]

Monster Hunter I'm not too worried about. Ace Attorney though seems to be struggling for US, since the last one even barely made it here, digital only and what not.

Yeah, it's what worries me too. Particularly given the setting of the upcoming game.

[Magpai]

That is just a mindless generalization. I don't play many capcom games myself, but one would think that % return on investment is a far more important figure to go by.

Yeah, too bad there's not some crazy way to correlate % return on investment with # of copies sold.

- - - Updated - - -

Capcom makes stupid statement, more at 11.

If this statement was really as stupid as you think, you could offer yourself to make their business decisions instead of whoever's currently doing it at a fraction of their salaray and they'd snatch you up.

[Hyve]

This is a really poor move on their part. Some sequels (Portal 2, is a prime example) actually attracted a whole lot more people to that platform and brand then the original.

It's also a rather arbitrary number; 2,000,000. The belief that simply because a game sells say, 2,500,000 it warrants the consideration of a sequel, while one at 1,450,000 doesn't is rather absurd.

[Edge-]

THIS JUST IN: Business makes product development decision based on sales. Hellravager steps up as leading voice of outrage.

This is the same company that viewed over 6M sales of RE6 as a "poor financial performance".

The same company that is rumored to be exploring buyout options.

Capcom is not well known for their strong business decisions in recent years.

[Deleted]

Most people on here wouldn't recognize a strong business decision if it walked up to them and introduced itself a s a strong business decision though.

[Attackrabbit]

Didn't some other company also say this fairly recently?

[The Kao]

While Capcom is guilty of many dumb decisions what was said is not one of them.

Not making AAA sequels for games that don't sell 2 mil+ sounds like a smart decision to me.

In and on itself you can see it like this.

But think about it, whose fault is it exactly that they don't sell 2 mil copies? Or, based on what data does Capcom decide to make titles that end up selling less? I mean even for the Japanese market alone that's pretty damn bad isn't it? There are indies and doujin publishers in Japan that sell more copies with teams made of 2 - 5 people and far simpler games, and yet Capcom can't reach these numbers with the kind of backing they can provide?

What. The. Heck. That's what I'd like Capcom to think about. They take the easy way out with that decision, blaming it on the consumer.

[Daethz]

Capicom, weren't they once a large company but eventually died down to almost nothing?
Oh rite, they where the arcade era.

[Keile]

Dear Capcom:

Sell the rights to Megaman to Nintendo, since they obviously know how to properly represent him than you guys do. Seriously, his popularity in Smash Bros alone should be proof enough to you twits that people do still care for him and do want more Megaman titles. (on that note: Dear Nintendo: Give us alternate costumes that let us play as the other versions of Megaman shown in his final smash.)