Microsoft to acquire Capcom? (rumor)

[Ruined]

Sounds unlikely, but with the poor sales of the XBOX in the Japanese market, and the recent acquisition of RARE, who knows?

Microsoft Puts Their Thinking Cap-on

Rumours have been screaming around European offices today about a take-over of the Japanese-Behemoth Capcom, creators of 3 of the biggest selling PS2 games, Onimusha 1 and 2, Devil May Cry, and ‘the’ flagship Gamecube series, Resident Evil along with what is one of the biggest selling xbox games in Japan, Steel Battalion!

It seems that in the past few months, they have lost a considerable amount of money, despite releasing some of the biggest franchises onto the the market.

Microsoft has been touted as being the developer most likely to buying Capcom, with some reports stating that Microsoft have already been in talks with the front-man of the company.

Although this may seem incredibly unlikely to those “not-in-the-know”, lets take a closer look. Several reports a couple of years ago, claimed that Microsoft was worth £1/3 trillion and Mr Gates himself, worth between £70-100 million. While these reports are pretty old now, with the numbers probably have risen from then, they do indicate that the xbox could have any developer it wants as a first party developer.

With games like Halo 1 and 2, Perfect Dark 0, True Fantasy Online, Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, Project Gotham, Sega GT, Panzer Dragoon and almost 100 more, being completely xbox exclusive, Microsoft is defiantly flashing the cash which is excellent news for xbox owners like us!

from XboxGamers.com (who FYI, was the first to report on the Rare deal as well)

[Crow T. Robot]

i hope not i like them on gamecube. i would not care if they let them make games for other systems to.

[whedon]

Originally posted by Ruined
It seems that in the past few months, they have lost a considerable amount of money, despite releasing some of the biggest franchises onto the the market.

You see, this is plainly a stupid rumour. Capcom are quite often in this financial situation... and they always pull out of it.

For example, reports back in the mid 90's about Capcom losing face with millions of unsold cartridges for the Genesis and SNES platforms (SFII series plus others). They sometimes produce more units than what is demanded for their titles.

I see this as no different.

Besides, why would a proud Japanese company let themselves be bought out by an American company. That's not the way they do business in Japan

Capcom are too big to be leashed onto developing for one system only. They have their place in the scheme of things...

[debz]

if capcom does sell most likely it will be to either Nintendo or Sony. I'd say nintendo would be a first choice for the company because Nintendo is known for great games while sony is known for not meeting demands and lots of software.....which most of it sucks......don't get me wrong I have a PS2 and it has some great games but most games out there suck

I'll shut up now so hopefully I don't start a big argument or anything

ignore me please

[elwood731]

I would actually hate to see Capcom, Konami, Sega, EA, or any other major third party company sell out to Nintendo, Sony, or MS. The more one or two companies own, the worse it will be for gamers. Before people start choosing sides with their favorite platform, just think about it for a moment. It's not what we really need in the game market. Though, I am sure some will heartily disagree.

[robarnold99]

Though, I am sure some will heartily disagree.

I agree with you very much....three words:

Competition drives creativity.

[keiths]

3 better words

Competition lowers prices


I've always seen CAPCOM as a sellout to none.
They've had great games to a multitude of different console companies.

Lets not forget their arcade games. Ahh the hours/quarters wasted practicing my Ryu weak punch to Hadouken fireball..
Nothing says loving like an arcade control stick.

Microsoft would be insane if they didnt want to pick up Capcom, but on the other hand I think at this time Capcom would lose out on limiting itself to one company.

[SilentBob]

I can't see a buy out on Capcom at all. Doing so well working on all systems at the moment.

I guess Microsoft likes the court room. as it looks like they are trying to monopolize is competition.

[The Riddler]

Capcom Rules!!!!

This rumor better be false! Capcom has a great library on each & every system dating back to the original NES. They certainly do not need to be "exclusive".

Mega Man & Street Fighter 4-ever!!

[egman]

I hope this is only a rumor too. I know the name of the game in this latest hardware war is exclusive titles, but I would have to agree with elwood that having this occur at a high rate is going to drag the industry down.

I'm glad to see some fellow Capcom heads in here. While I do enjoy the RE series, I will admit I am a fighting junkie, and the majority of the titles I own on Dreamcast are Capcom fighters. My brother and I nearly went mad trying to find a copy of Marvel vs Capcom 2 when it became scarce.