The shift over to the next generation of consoles is exciting for plenty of developers, publishers, and fans of the video game industry. New hardware means new opportunities for existing franchises, as well as the likely birth of fresh IP. However, not all companies are financially and structurally equipped to make the change. Pieces and parts have to be shifted around to satisfy the new marketplace, and unfortunately, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are already having an impact on Capcom.
A Capcom spokesperson has confirmed to Game Industry International that there will be a restructuring at the company, causing many people to lose their jobs.
"Capcom today laid off several employees from the US office as part of an overall organizational restructure of the company. The transition to the new generation of hardware and changing industry landscape have required us to adapt our business to best meet our new goals," the spokesperson said. "We sincerely thank each individual for their contributions and wish them well. We are unable to provide information on numbers."
Certain games, like Resident Evil 6, were a disappointment for Capcom. The Japanese publisher hasn’t been performing up to its own standards, leading to the departure of senior VP Christian Svensson. This might seem like just another result of today’s news, but really, Svesson has been considering this move for some time.
“This departure is not a bad thing for me and it's happening mostly because I'd suggested it during the early planning for today's reorg. While I wish the company the best of luck, Capcom is going in a different direction and the need for people at my level, relative to other areas, is lacking,” a post on his Facebook reads.”Those who know me well, know that I've been ready to go for quite some time.”
Capcom needs something big to hit in order to get on the right track. Deep Down is looking sharp, but it’ll take more than a moderate hit to get the Eastern company back in the green.
