Capcom facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Capcom Co., Ltd.

Headquarters in Chūō-ku, Osaka
Native name	株式会社カプコン
Romanized name	Kabushiki-gaisha Kapukon
Type	Public
Traded as	TYO: 9697
Industry	Video games
Founded	May 30, 1979; 46 years ago (1979-05-30)
Founder	Kenzo Tsujimoto
Headquarters	Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan
Key people	Kenzo Tsujimoto (Chairman and CEO) Haruhiro Tsujimoto (President and COO)
Products	Complete list of games
Revenue	¥110.1 billion (2022)
Operating income	¥44.3 billion (2022)
Net income	¥32.6 billion (2022)
Owner	Tsujimoto family (22.71%) Public Investment Fund (5%)
Number of employees	3,332 (2023)
Divisions	Development Division 1 Development Division 2
Subsidiaries	Capcom Taiwan Capcom Singapore Capcom Europe Capcom U.S.A. Capcom Maintenance Service Co., Ltd. Enterrise Co., Ltd. K2 Co., Ltd. Swordcanes Studio Co., Ltd. Adelion CO., LTD. Capcom Asia CO., LTD., Ltd. Leostar Co., Ltd. Capcom Entertainment Germany GmbH. Capcom Entertainment France SAS, Capcom Pictures, Inc..

Capcom Co., Ltd. is a Japanese company that makes video games. It has created many popular game series that have sold millions of copies. Some of its most famous games include Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, Street Fighter, Mega Man, and Devil May Cry.

Capcom started in 1979 and now has offices all over the world. You can find them in places like Hong Kong, London, England, and San Francisco, California.

History of Capcom Games

Capcom's story began on May 30, 1979. A person named Kenzo Tsujimoto started a company called I.R.M. Corporation. This company, along with another one called Japan Capsule Computers Co., Ltd., made and sold electronic game machines.

In 1981, these companies changed their name to Sanbi Co., Ltd. Then, on June 11, 1983, Tsujimoto created Capcom Co., Ltd. This new company took over the sales part of the business.

In 1989, Capcom Co., Ltd. and Sanbi Co., Ltd. joined together. This created the Capcom we know today in Japan. The name "Capcom" comes from "Capsule Computers." This name was used for the arcade machines they made early on. They wanted their games to feel like "a capsule packed with gaming fun."

Capcom's very first product was a medal game called Little League in 1983. Their first arcade video game was Vulgus in May 1984. They started making games for players all over the world with the arcade hit 1942 in 1984.

Popular arcade games like Commando and Ghosts 'n Goblins in 1985 helped Capcom become very famous. They also started letting other companies release their arcade games on home computers.

Capcom then moved into making games for home consoles. This became their main business. They released a version of 1942 for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. Later, they created huge home video game series like Resident Evil in 1996. Their game Street Fighter II from 1991 was a massive hit in arcades.

In the late 1980s, Capcom faced tough times financially. But a game called Mahjong Gakuen sold very well. It helped save the company from financial problems.

Capcom was known for sticking with 2D games for a long time. Games like Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors and X-Men: Children of the Atom had a popular cartoon-like style. Capcom decided to use this style in more of their games.

In 1990, Capcom even got into the bowling business with "Bowlingo." This was a smaller, automated mini ten-pin bowling setup for amusement arcades. It made a lot of money in North America.

Capcom has also turned its games into movies. The Street Fighter movie came out in 1994. While it made money, critics didn't like it much. The Resident Evil movie in 2002 also made money but got similar reviews. Capcom sees movies as a way to help sell more of their video games.

In 2001, there were rumors that Capcom was leaving the arcade business. They stayed in Japan but slowly left the American arcade market by 2003.

Capcom works with other companies to bring their games to different platforms. For example, they partnered with QLOC to bring games like DmC: Devil May Cry and Dragon's Dogma to PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

In 2012, Capcom received some criticism for certain sales methods. For example, some games had extra content already on the disc that players had to pay to unlock. They also got criticized for not releasing some games outside Japan.

In 2014, Capcom had a patent infringement lawsuit against Koei Tecmo Games. Capcom said Koei Tecmo used a game feature they had a patent for. The two companies later settled this issue.

In 2020, Capcom's computer systems had a problem where some data was locked by hackers. The hackers claimed they stole a lot of company information. Capcom said that no credit card or other sensitive financial details were taken.

In 2021, Capcom removed the Rising Sun Flag from a new release of Street Fighter II. This was likely done to avoid upsetting some players around the world.

An artist named Judy A. Juracek sued Capcom in 2021. She said Capcom used images from her book without permission in games like Resident Evil 4 and Devil May Cry. This was found out because of the 2020 data problem. The issue was settled in 2022.

In 2022, a company from Saudi Arabia, the Public Investment Fund, bought a small part of Capcom. In 2023, Capcom bought a computer graphics studio called Swordcanes Studio.

How Capcom Works

Capcom has different teams that create games. In the beginning, they had "Planning Rooms" that worked on different projects. Later, they had "Production Studios." Now, they have bigger departments that share ideas and skills.

Capcom has two main teams that make games for home consoles:

• Division 1 makes games like Resident Evil, Mega Man, Devil May Cry, and Dead Rising. These games are often for players all over the world.
• Division 2 makes games like Ace Attorney, Onimusha, Sengoku Basara, and Ōkami. These games are often for players in Asia. They also make online games like Monster Hunter and Street Fighter.

Capcom also sometimes asks other game studios to help make games. But they prefer to make new game ideas with their own teams.

Capcom Offices and Other Businesses

Capcom's main office and research building are in Osaka, Japan. They also have an office in Tokyo.

Around the world, Capcom has 12 smaller companies. These are in Japan, other parts of East Asia, North America, and Europe.

Besides making games for consoles, online, and mobile phones, Capcom also publishes strategy guides for its games. They have their own arcade centers in Japan called Plaza Capcom. They also let other companies use their game characters and stories for movies, TV shows, and stage performances.

Capcom has a music label called Suleputer. It releases CDs, DVDs, and other media based on Capcom's games. They also have an event called Captivate each year to announce new games and business plans.

Top Selling Games

Capcom has many game series that have sold millions of copies. Here are some of their most popular ones:

The Street Fighter series started in 1987. These fighting games are very popular and have sold over 50 million copies. It's one of Capcom's most important game series. The company also launched its Mega Man series in 1987, which has sold over 40 million copies.

In 1996, Capcom released the first Resident Evil game. This survival horror series is their most successful, selling over 150 million copies. After the second Resident Evil game, Capcom started working on a new game for PlayStation 2. It was so different that they made it into its own series, Devil May Cry. This series has sold 30 million copies.

Capcom started the Monster Hunter series in 2004. This series has sold over 90 million copies on many different game consoles.

Capcom keeps a list of its "Platinum Titles." These are games that have sold over one million copies. This list is updated every three months and has more than 100 games. The table below shows the top ten best-selling individual games from Capcom as of December 31, 2023.

See also

In Spanish: Capcom para niños

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Companies Started by Former Capcom Employees

Many talented people have worked at Capcom. Some of them later left to start their own successful game companies. Here are a few examples: