Capcom Won't Work On AAA Sequels Unless Its Predecessor Sold Over 2 Million Units

Capcom’s Yoshinori Ono has revealed in the latest edition of Japanese gaming publication Famitsu that the company won’t greenlight a AAA game sequel without over 2 million sales.

[imXify]

Sometimes copy-pasting the title is bad :V

[vishmarx]

RIP Dragons Dogma, you shall be dearly missed(only good game by capcom inyers)
good riddance dmc.

[Remy_Chaos]

Geez was DMC really that bad? Anyways yeah sucks we'll never see a sequel to Dragons Dogma, such a fantastic yet flawed game. Fix those flaws however and it'll be beyond great, stupid Capcom. Guess we'll never see another Onimusha either, just more sequels to series that become staler with each release.

[Revolt13]

I loved both Dragons Dogma and DmC....i can neither agree nor disagree with your comment

[bouzebbal]

Crapcom did it again!!! They don't make games with passion it's only to check in behind. No wonder they are sinking at a high speed!
We want megaman, Breath of Fire, Power Stone, Rival Schools, Maximo, Onimusha, Dino Crisis and even a new Auto Modellista.

I guess we can forget all of these.

[darren_poolies]

Dragon's Dogma sold 2.3 million according to vgchartz.

Sad that we'll probably never see a sequel to DmC, I really loved it.

[Nodoze]

I loved Dragon's Dogma. It was the first Capcom game I bought in some time.

I wonder if they count PS + as sales. Both DMC and Dragons dogma were featured titles.

[breakpad]

agree if they follow this strategy then DragonsDogma 2 will never see a light ...it was my first thought also when i saw the article also as you said DmC is good riddance (lame game) and with that logic we also never see again a shity RE Revelation 3 game- Revelations 2 will never reach 2million ) ...but for DD2 there is hope cause in japan was very well received

[user5575708]

RIP everything except resident evil and street fighter...

[BG11579]

Not to say that Street Fighter iv never should have existed because Street Fighter iii wasn't a commercial sucess. :/

[levian]

Dogma was one of my favourite games of the last generation, literally top 5. Really sucks there wont be another.

[mav805]

Dragon's Dogma was one of the best games of last generation, but even so, did it qualify as AAA? There was basically no marketing for it, and I don't think it had a very big budget.

Even so, VGchartz has it at over 2 million copies sold so I'm very hopeful :)

[Sly-Lupin]

Dragon's Dogma. The only good game?

What about Ghost Trick? Or the recent Ace Attornies? I get Capcom gets a lot of hate from fans for what they've done with their big, AAA franchises... but they produce a hell of a lot of games, many of which are good, some of which are fantastic.

[Sevir]

Wow, so No DmC or DMC? Sooo, pretty much Resident Evil and Street Fighter? Somehow I think this a misquote, or a translation error. Maybe he said it would be difficult to find a sequel if the New IP didn't sell 2 million units.

[Silver360]

They need to start selling off their AAA IP Activision, Ubisoft and EA would be more than willing to buy them.

[ZombieKiller]

Sooooo which Devil May Cry do you plan on keeping? Because I miss Dante and hated Dunteh. Please bring us our original Dante.....please?

....and could we not count Onimusha in those numbers? Just release a sequel......don't look at the numbers (not sure what they were) just release a proper sequel...please? I'm asking nicely! It's tough for me to do.....

[theshonen8899]

RIP Okami.

[Kumomeme]

funny,before the director said he want to do the sequels,already talk about what he want to implemented in the sequels and he told only quaters of the idea came for the first game

[The_Devil_Hunter]

I still dont know why they are a company anymore, these guys really need to get bought buy someone. Dragons Dogma was one of the best games I played in 2012, and we DMC fans are still expecting a DMC5. Ever since last gen, they have gone to my favorite developers to one of my least favorites.

[delicia]

This. I cannot believe how much a company can screw up like Capcom did. And let's not talk about typos in Capcom's games...

[Magicite]

Ive actually enjoyed pretty much all capcom AAA franchises.

[3-4-5]

* Capcom, stop giving %50 of the money for the game to your executives.

THAT is why they need to sell 2 million copies for it to warrant a sequel.

The people at the top, who are ruining this company with terrible ideas, are collecting way too big of a paycheck.

It's obvious that ALMOST ALL the decisions made at Capcom, are about THESE people at the top, and them getting more money.

[KiwiViper85]

Welcome to the business world

[Muzikguy]

So does this mean constant milking of the same tired franchises? Just because RE6sold millions doesn't make it a good game! Not good news :(

[bennissimo]

Capcom is in so much damage control that they'll eliminate the chance to let a late bloomer develop.

I wish MS would buy Capcom and revitalize the Mega Man, Bionic Commando and Street Fighter franchises.

[MrSwankSinatra]

So basically Street Fighter and Resident Evil lol.

[KrisButtar]

and Monster Hunter

[MrSwankSinatra]

Monster Hunter really isn't a AAA game though. I would imagine that Monster Hunter doesn't take much to make.

[bouzebbal]

it's true that compared to FFXV no game is AAA -_-
Development time means nothing. COD says hi!

[gantarat]

Maybe we can see New IP AAA game from capcom ?

[user5669510]

so how are they going to know if it sells over 2 million without attempting to make it. i dont see how people still support capcom they are on of the most shadiest publishers. EA get flak, but capcom dont how that work.

[CorndogBurglar]

I think you missed the point.

They are saying a SEQUEL will not be made unless the ORIGINAL, or previous sequels sell 2 million.

They aren't saying the sequel has to sell 2 million to get made. What sense does that make?

[user5669510]

We are still waiting for megaman and sequels of old school games. Soooooooo

[Golden_Mud]

So no more Dead Rising , this is the time where Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have to begin buying franchises from Capcom or basically , all the beloved titles are dead \(0.0)/

Basically Capcom hates riskiessss so they will not love to risk anymore.

[Sashamaz]

'riskiessss', have not brought in the money they need and well...they kinda need money to stay alive.

[Zichu]

There's only so long you can play it safe. Look at CoD, it sold a hell of a lot less last year than previous years. This formula will get stale for more and more people.

I find some of the best games this gen have been made by smaller teams. You don't need to spend millions on a game if you have passion and it seems to me, these guys have lost their passion.

[thehobbyist]

You're right. If rumors are to be believed Capcom was about to go bankrupt and their entire business future was riding on Monster Hunter 4's success. But of course, there isn't a single Monster Hunter game to date that hasn't made profit so it was almost set in stone that they'd survive.

[THamm]

Yes indeed, you see what happened when rock star bought Red Dead

[KrisButtar]

This is a bummer as I was so looking forward to another Dragon's Dogma but it only sold 1.3 million from what I found online

[nitus10]

Capcom did bring out "Dragon's Dogma - Dark Arisen" which basically was the same game with a large add-on set on/in an island where the enemies are a whole lot tougher. Also quests given from the island can take you to the mainland as well where you can also find tougher enemies. Fast travel is also much better in that while it still costs (although not as much) you have and can set-up more teleport sites (it is possible to get an unlimited teleport stone).

Dark Arisen basically fixed quite a few flaws that where IMHO in the original game although hard mode is pretty much the same in that you get ridicules cash drops from enemies which IMHO is useless since there is nothing to spend it on since most of the really good items are either drops or in treasure chests, many of which contain random items which IMHO adds to re-playability.

Unfortunately in both games the quests are IMHO fairly bland (mainly "search and destroy" or "escort missions") compared to those in games like Skyrim, Oblivion, Kingdoms of Amalur, Dragon Age and even games like White Knight Chronicles (International Edition).

Overall IMHO the game is still enjoyable to play and can be quite challenging at times although if Capcom came out with a true sequel that combined elements of Skyrim including factions and an even larger map they would IMHO have an epic game. Of course the same could be said for "Elder scrolls V1" if it is ever made. "ES on-line" IMHO does not count since I don't like paying for on-line only games.

BTW I deliberately did not mention the Souls series since they are different to the above although there are similarities.

[KrisButtar]

I own Dark Arisen :) One of my favorite games last gen. I agree with you, it was sometimes bland when compared to my other favorite games but damn good for a new IP.

[Sarick]

Agreed this game is a sleeper hit that didn't get the attention it deserved.

If it was advertised or promoted better it would've likely sold a lot more. Unfortunately, I only found out about it by searching for for bargain bin game purchases! If it wasn't for this I would've never played this awesome game.

[DiscoKid]

Well that put the last nail in the coffin for Megaman Legends 3.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Unless Nintendo uses their new open stance towards mergers and acquisitions to obtain the IP somewhere down the line.
Nintendo seems to have this habit, lately, of funding things that others don't think are financial "safe bets".
I bet they'd bring Legends 3 into existence if the voice was strong enough for it, if they had control of the IP...

[KrisButtar]

"Nintendo seems to have this habit, lately, of funding things that others don't think are financial "safe bets".

For a habit, doesn't it need to happen more than once and I only know if it happening to Bay2. How many others have there been?

[Concertoine]

@Kris

Devil's Third.
They also fund the Fatal Frame games which have never been very successful

[WeAreLegion]

Devil. May. Cry. 5

Do it, Capcom.

[gantarat]

We still don't know what next itsuno project after Dragon Dogma

[lonelyplayer]

We need dragons dogma 2 cashcom!!! Amazing game

[gamerfan0909]

If I'm Capcom I'd just sell all my properties save maybe street fighter, monster hunter, and resident evil. Even then, I believe they make those games for so much money that when they do sell well they still aren't happy with the sales. Best thing I'd do if I'm them is sell off properties that might interest companies and might want. I know for a fact MS would buy Dead Rising off their hands after the last one sold decently at launch and Megaman would definitely peak other third party publishers and Sony and Nintendo's interest and portfolio's. The Japanese gaming industry is simply dying and I don't see the majority of these companies surviving over there.

[tanukisuit]

No more Lost Planet either? A shame too, because I think 3 fixed a lot of the issues of LP2...

[Inception]

Hmmm...than i can expect DMC 5 and Onimusha 5?

[forgetmenot]

ALL OF MY YES!!!!!!!

[ashen122]

this sucks, Capcom has so many fan favorite titles that won't get sequels now

[Austin48]

I'm glad resident evil is going to keep going but I want dead rising to :/

[jrshankill]

Street Fighter is probably their most iconic and important franchise. Though these re-releases of SF IV are annoying.

[ScorpiusX]

Time for MS to buy the Dead Rising IP from Capcom, if Xbox one is to see another DR game.

[blackblades]

TBH I want capcom to go out of business, so another company can get the rights to there games. All I want is power stone 3, onimusha 5, god hand 2, and other fighting games to come back and less sf, resident evil.

[Scatpants]

If they announced Power Stone 3 I would give them my money instantly. Probably my favorite game series on Dreamcast. They're busy making stupid games I don't want though.

[Master-H]

Well, give us a remastered Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen on the new consoles so it can reach that, i want to play it but the lens on my ps3 is dying.

[Scatpants]

Too bad that would sell like 9 copies, but I agree with you, great game.

[Scatpants]

It's really sad how lost most Japanese companies seem to be right now at knowing what kind of games people want to play.

[DiscoKid]

Well, Japanese gamers prefer mobile. Westerners on the otherhand prefer home console. So it's a double-sided market.

[Inception]

Most japanese companies? Please, it's only a few case. Other devs such as Atlus, NIS, Namdai, TK, Falcom, Gust, Sony Japan, Nintendo, Vanillaware, Konami, Spike Chunsoft, Acquire, or Arc System Works still produced high quality games for console/handheld that a lot of people wants to play.

[mydyingparadiselost]

I guess the concepts of building up and working within a budget are lost to Capcom, as are my hopes for a slew sequels that will never be (or even worse, on iOS). Goodbye Capcom, I don't think we'll be seeing each other much any more.

[q8kik]

Ugh.... i hate this company but i love their games.

[comebackkid9891]

Sony buy: Devil May Cry (not dmc), and if possible acquire Castlevania from Konami
Nintendo buy: Megaman, Viewtiful Joe
Microsoft buy: Dead Rising

[Nodoze]

Sony should purchase Dragons Dogma rights.

[Sarick]

Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen servers is still alive and kicking. I don't know why this game didn't get the attention of FFXIII.

It's a sleeper hit that never got the real attention it deserved. A few good tweeks and it could've been even better.

If it was advertised more it might have been noticed more. I for one was just buying cheap $10 PS3 games. I put the classic version in to see if it was fun. I ended up spending weeks playing it. I then lent it to my 60+ mother who ENJOYED it. Ended up buying 2 copies of the Dark Arison and played the games at same time.

Was awesome!!!

[deafdani]

I agree with most of it, except Sony buying Castlevania. Nope, that series started on the NES, and it's had entries on the DS, so it deserves to stay multiplatform so both Sony and Nintendo fans get to enjoy it.

[HentaiMasterRace]

Sony should get MH as well.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Sony's PS4 is doing well enough without it, and at this point it wouldn't save the Vita, but the Wii U definitely needs one to boost its library appeal alongside MH4U., so I say Nintendo should get it.

[Fkhalf16]

I dont think they need MH, Persona franchise is massive in Japan aswell and with DQ returning to PS inner circle, I think they are good.

[DragoonsScaleLegends]

Sony doesn't buy games though. Microsoft on the other hand buy everything and exclusive rights. Nintendo just fund japanese third party games so they will be exclusive.

[forgetmenot]

Capcom has way to many iconic games to be talking like this but their business practices have put them in this spot,How about not releasing street fighter 4 four time,terrible dlc practices,and shitty excuses to your fan-base(megaman)

[specialguest]

Sadly this is the real final nail in the coffin for the megaman series. If the megaman fans still had a sliver of hope left during those many many years, this news finally put out that hope.

[Tauriel]

What happened to these guys?
They used to be my go to action games company.....

[gantarat]

AAA Game = Use Huge Money

why make sequel if game not sold well

[thehobbyist]

They got a new CEO. Who's a huge moron who came up with this idiotic business strategy after he killed 3 Mega Man games.

[gantarat]

CEO Still same person

[lnfiniteLoop]

since Capcom have gone down the added DLC route to make money their games mostly suck... selling costumes is just stupid, let people pay a proper price for the full game and unlock them in game... stop trying to find ways to rip off gamers...

[D-riders]

well I think this guy needs to try to understand the industry better. right now games flood the industry and expect to sell 2 million well people only have so much money. if they had a AAA game this xmas it could take my ass-creed slot and that's how it works.dont flood the market if your game is set to release wait, simple as that. some games suffer from releasing at the same time as others. look at GTA and smash bros. someone is taking a hit

[noxeven]

So that means we will get the annual additions of street fighter, monster hunter and resident evil. Probably phoneix wright in japan only with occasional release here. Of course some cash will be spent to release stuff that on arcade and psn through emulation dumps. While I enjoyed dmc I cant see them sitting on that franchise forever so that will come back at some point. I guarantee that once mighty number 9 comes out we will get either a new mega man game or an annoucement of a new megaman game

[Deadpool616]

No....Vulgus 2? :(

[Revengeance]

Then they need to make a DMC 5.

[feraldrgn]

I'll probably never see another Breath of Fire game. :(

[Hexer1021]

Didn't you hear about Breath of Fire 6? Everyone can play it... on their phone. :(

[nitus10]

Not everyone likes playing an RPG on a handheld much less a smart phone where IMHO the controls are dumbed down. I guess this is one version of BoF that I will be avoiding although I do like the series and have played all except 6 so far.

I have tried to play RPG's on my Galaxy S3 but even though it has one of the largest screens I find the controls annoying and while the detail is there it does not compare to a similar game on a larger screen and a hand held controller.

[Sly-Lupin]

Was Breath of Fire ever a AAA series?

[feraldrgn]

To me it was :(

I'm sure it was considered triple A at one point, 1, 2 & 3 were pretty big I think, 4 was good but released at the end of the 5th gen & 5 was an unusual game.

I read about Capcom releasing a 6th on phones around the time, I facepalmed so hard.

[Sly-Lupin]

AAA has nothing to do with quality. Its a qualitative term referring to the highest (financial) tier of game development. IE if a game costs more than $10 million USD, it's in the AAA tier.

AAA games are associated with quality games, but that's correlation, not causation. The bigger budget a game has, the more polish its likely to get--but bad game direction and design can occur no matter how much money is involved.

[Patrick_pk44]

I'd love it if Capcom made another DMC, but a true successor to DMC4. But I'd rather have another Dragons Dogma. If they made a next gen one it would sell like hot cakes.

[urwifeminder]

Dead rising is the only game I have purchased from them in years .

[Youngindy21]

This sucks. I really wanted an Asura's Wrath sequel.

[holdmyown83]

RIP powerstone & Rival Schools

[aliengmr]

While it seems logical, it might be just too broad in its focus.

Maintaining a budget based on the fans that will buy the game instead of pouring more money in to appeal to more fans would be a smarter option IMO.

[aLiEnViSiToR]

wtf are hey doing scare tactics xD nice try you greedy bastards !

[Shinobi100]

I love Capcom. I'm not saying I love their business decisions or the way they treat their own series' or fanbase. But I love the games that they do come out with. The Resident Evil games on 3DS pushed the system like no other. But then again, E.X. Troopers for 3DS never got localized. Non-consumer friendly business decision. Mega Man? He'll be my #1 character in Smash Bros. But is he getting his own game anytime in the near future? There's another company that has made a lot of poor business decisions over its lifetime, but has shown time and time again that fans are #1. That's why they'll always be #1 in my heart: SEGA!!!

[ThePain1]

Keep making solid DMC games and i'm happy :) DMC5 was legit, controls were so tight, smooth gameplay ... and it could arguably be the best hack and slash out there !
alot of people hated on Resident evil 6 but i really liked that game, you know your in for a dodgy storyline when u pick up a resident evil game these days...
bring back res outbreak !!

[GodGinrai]

MS should just buy that big ol' steak in em. looks like they could use the money. And those IPs would make for some good exclusive IP...

[Relientk77]

Maybe if you make a real Breath of Fire 6, and not some phone game. that'd be nice

[NixonMonoxide]

Bloody Crapcom. Nothing new for ages. However I really enjoyed the latest DMC and Dragon's Dogma to an extent.

Everyone cries when Crapcom literally rehashes SF & SFxT content, but Crapcom literally RE-RELEASES A F***ing GAMECUBE game (RESI-EVIL 1), and they're praised for "contributing" to survival horror.

LOL, gamersheep.... I won't even pretend RE1 is scary or worth my time at anything more than $10 today.

Someone please wake me up when Crapcom releases something both new and interesting.

[Petebloodyonion]

1) Capcom didn't said that they would killed sequels they just said that AAA sequels would need some financials success before going green.
Meaning possible as Digital only title, or episode titles.

2) Why the hate toward Capcom for this decision?
If you want to blame then blame Sony. Yes Sony they are the leading the lets redo instead of create. They are the leader of doing normal and selling it at AAA on ps4, they are the leaders at promoting indy and wondering why gamers wants AAA games (what's comming on Vita).

So why the hate toward Capcom for actually doing the same thing as Sony?

[Graey]

Hm

Capcom has not really been that good in awhile so it makes sense financially to only put out sequels to games that generate enough sales.

Dragons Dogma was cool but honestly in my opinion most Japanese games have that clunky feeling to them. Say for instance Demon souls, Dragons Dogma, it just feels idk unpolished in a way.

To many developers are not really putting their heart into their games as well as they are not really thinking about what the consumer wants. Certain games just should not be made. How many street fighters do we really need.

I don't know this is all my opinion. I do agree with their assessment however.

[Kalebninja]

officially boycotting capcom. no more lost planet and the to be continue for asuras wrath was a lie.

[Yetter]

So no new IPs from Capcom I guess

[Fullmetalevolust]

Lol sounds like a bit of an ultimatum, buy our sh*t, otherwise we won't make 'em anymore!

[Alicornium]

Did Okami sell 2mil+? God, I would kill for Okami 2

[lifeordeath617]

damn, 2009 was such a good year for Capcom, Then it just went downhill from there.

[Gamer777]

Shocking how much this company has declined in a little under 15 years. During the 6th gen Capcom was a gaming Titan. They struggled throughout the 7th gen; now entering the 8th gen they can barely afford to fund a few projects a year. I won't be surprised if they go under or get bought out.

[Nevers0ft]

It's scary to see how much they've lost their way. They've gutted their business by making weird, anti-consumer decisions in the last few years. The "men in suits" are clearly the ones holding the reins at Capcom so I have to agree with your sentiment... They're in the death spiral, they just don't know it yet.