Capcom Discusses How They Plan On Using Their IPs In The Latest Annual Report

Capcom released their latest Annual (Integrated) Report this week, talking about multimedia IP, dormant brands, and more. Some of the information provides illumination on some of the recent announcements from Capcom, such as the reveal of a Mega Man movie in the works.

Here are the highlights:

On the influence of the Street Fighter movie, and the strategy of focusing on IP branding:

Kenzo Tsujimoto, CEO: “As it takes about three years to develop a game, we used to have issues with a progressive decline in recognition during development. I came up with the idea that the most effective method for ongoing media exposure of game titles was to expand globally using Hollywood movie adaptations.

In 1994, we decided to invest 4 billion yen to make a Street Fighter Hollywood movie. At that time, some thought I had taken up movies merely as a hobby, but this investment generated a 15 billion yen return and successfully established Street Fighter as a global brand.

Although games receive only about two weeks of media exposure before and after their release, factors that led to the success of this Hollywood movie include (1) the theatrical release, (2) Blu-Ray and DVD sales, (3) cable television broadcasts and (4) broadcasts at hotels and in airplanes. It has been rebroadcast numerous times over years and decades, which has led to maintaining and even increasing the recognition of this title.

A condition to taking this marketing approach is that the games are of world-class quality; Capcom has already succeeded in a similar way with the branding of Resident Evil. We will continue to utilize this branding approach with other Capcom IP.”

On what sorts of IP Capcom plans to utilize:

Capcom COO Haruhito Tsujimoto talked in the report about how Capcom will be placing a priority on current core IP, while also actively using dormant IP (He refers to Mega Man 11 as an example.) Also, new IP creation is also indispensible in the long-term.

Meanwhile, these core and dormant IPs a “bolstered” digital download presence, as this strategy has been working out in Capcom’s favor so far. “There is still a lot of room to expand our lineup, including with dormant IP,” says Tsujimoto. “Thus we will endeavor to expand earnings going forward.”

On Capcom’s strategy for mobile:

Tsujimoto admits that Capcom is lagging behind competitors in mobile, and senses that the gacha business model has reached its peak. In this regard, there are many “core action game IP” that Capcom can utilize for growth in this area.

Capcom will be collaborating with global partners in mobile games, that will see a constant release of popular IP mobile titles, with two due to roll out by March 2019.

Meanwhile, Capcom also is anticipating the release of 5G smartphones, which in terms of games they think will expand the possibilities of high-quality graphics action-oriented IP on smartphones.

Finally, Capcom has provided an updated look at how their game series sales have stacked up over the years.