As many gamers know, there’s been a “buying frenzy” going on between multiple members of the “big publishers” of the gaming world. Whether it’s top-tier developers like Bethesda buying people to bring to their large dev team or it’s console makers like Microsoft and Sony trying to expand the IP and team under their umbrella, it seems like the only question nowadays is “Who’s next?” and “What will it take to get them?” Whether you realize it or not, Capcom has secretly been having an incredible number of years, leading to many wondering if they’ll be the next buyout target.
This topic was brought up by Bloomberg, who talked with COO Haruhito Tsujimoto about possibly getting bought by a company and whether they want to keep expanding internally by getting other teams. What might be surprising is that Tsujimoto said “no” to both. First, he talked about the “organic growth” the company wanted to have:
“I think there have been many merger and acquisition talks in the game industry. There was once a time we were a target, but rather than acquiring an outside company, we prefer organic growth. It is important to train and develop human resources in-house in order to carry out growth strategies. I also believe we can utilise external partners, but we have no intention of acquiring companies.”
Then, on the topic of being bought out by someone like Microsoft, who has been on a buying spree over the last several years, the COO noted:
“I would gracefully decline the offer because I believe it would be better if we were equal partners.”
It’s honestly a bit refreshing to hear that someone isn’t interested in being bought but continuing to grow on their own. As we said, Capcom has been doing really well in recent years, as they’ve had successes on numerous fronts with multiple IPs.
For example, they’ve revitalized their Resident Evil franchise not only by making excellent new entries but also by going back to the originals and giving them the remake treatment. The last three remakes and two main entries have all sold millions of units, ensuring the franchise’s survival. Then, there’s Street Fighter 6, which was widely praised by critics and fans and has already been confirmed to have sold over a million units within a few days of launch.
While it’s true that anyone would be lucky to own Capcom, they clearly don’t need anyone right now to succeed.
