next-gen.biz escribió:Capcom president and CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto says development costs for next generation games will rise by as much as 40 percent adding that the company must exploit a multi-platform strategy, migrating brands to other media, in order to offset these added costs.
In an interview with Next Generation he said, "Initially I believe costs may rise by around 30% to 40%, but we've been gearing up for this, re-thinking and re-organizing our product development system, in order to keep rising costs in check as much as possible."
He added, "We're building effective, cost-efficient product development processes, and are working on multi-platform title release strategies, and hope to continue to maximize profits. We're putting in place systems that are designed to maximize profits by using IPs in multiple outlets to create revenue outside the consumer game market, so I believe that we will be able to keep costs well under control."
He said, "We will continue to adhere to our multi-platform strategy, but at the same time we'll continue to keep tabs on market conditions as we make release platform decisions for titles. We're getting an early start on the next generation of consoles, and will be releasing Dead Rising for Xbox 360, as well as Devil May Cry 4 for the PS3. Although both titles fall into the action genre, we also recently established a new development studio called Clover Studio, who we feel will provide a wealth of unique, innovative, genre-making titles. Okami received a positive response at E3."
Asian markets
Tsujimoto says growth will come through expansion into new markets as well as MMOGs. "We're putting more effort into the growing European market, as well as in the U.S. And we're making plans to expand our efforts in the Asian markets of Korea and China where online games are already a booming business. However, rather than starting from scratch, we would like to work with other established companies in those regions, taking advantage of their experience and know-how in those markets. We are also hopeful that more Capcom properties can make the transition to the online PC game market."
Capcom's survival-horror games like Resident Evil have helped to define the genre. But it's a crowded market. Tsujimoto says the company is working to keep content fresh. "There have been a lot of other entries into the survival horror genre from other publishers with increasingly tough competition. But we don't feel that consumers will get tired of Capcom’s products. Resident Evil 4 received rave reviews from gamers. To maintain the appeal and strength of such franchises, it's crucial to continue to maintain a high level of quality without releasing too many derivative products that dilute the brand."
Capcom has been busy migrating its IP to other media, such as movies and TV. Tsujimoto said, "Although the added revenue that stems from projects such as the Resident Evil movies or the Mega Man and Viewtiful Joe cartoon series is not overly significant in the overall scheme of things, we plan to continue this multi-media approach to create a synergistic effect with our home console games."