Capcom’s President Talks About Its Business Model and Future Games

Ahead of Capcom’s 40th anniversary on June 11, 2023, Famitsu conducted an interview with Capcom President Haruhiro Tsujimoto. During it he talked about the company’s current business model, developing classic and new IPs as Games as a Service (GaaS,) Capcom’s push for classic games and remasters, and the future of the company. Previous tips also noted he discussed the future of crossplay games. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

For the past few years, Capcom focused on Games as a Service (GaaS) titles that the company can continue to support long after release, either through continuous free updates or DLC and content expansions. Some of these recent GaaS titles we’ve seen include Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise. Throughout fiscal year 2022, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak and Resident Evil Village Gold Edition were two titles to receive constant support and spearhead Capcom’s current business model.

Tsujimoto also shared that two years ago, Capcom made a major shift on focusing on distributing new and classic games digitally. Because of this, approximately 80% of Capcom’s annual sales were digital versions of their titles. Tsujimoto pointed to this shift as responsible for being able to develop remasters and re-releases like Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection and the upcoming Ghost Trick.

When talking about fiscal year 2023, Tsujimoto said that the first future game Capcom wants to focus on is Street Fighter 6. When they started development for Street Fighter IV, eSports were not as established as they are today. Capcom had eSports in mind while developing Street Fighter V, and the same goes for Street Fighter 6. However, Tsujimoto said that Street Fighter 6 was designed to allow all type of players to enjoy the game through its single player modes as well.

Exoprimal is another important game for Capcom in 2023, and another title that the company will continue to update for long after its release. Tsujimoto expects Exoprimal to be a touchstone title that will have a deep impact on the future direction of Capcom in developing GaaS.