Capcom is broke and dying

[Jakandsig]

Though I hear more about terrible mismanagement from companies like Square Enix....  Who knows how they are still in business....

If they continue like they have been (which they will) they won't be in business for much longer. They've decided to almost entirely forgo their handheld fanbase (more in the West than Japan, admittedly) in favor of iOS games and are pouring an insane amount of their budgets into amazing graphics, but shallow story and gameplay, which has turned into just a constant bleed of profits. Shoving Final Fantasy XIII down everyone's throats certainly hasn't helped. Their recent announcement of porting Final Fantasy VI to iOS and once again leaving out their loyal handheld customers solidifies this. If they don't change something soon, they'll go under due to the constant loss of money.

This is a mixed post. Ios has been far more profitable for Final Fantasy than Handhelds have been in recent days.


Why? Because they are to big. In order to manage both sides with companies like Taito, Crystal Dynamics, etc. they have to make double what they were making before. Most of the money that came to Square Enix this gen was from Eidos. At the same time, Square can't afford to pay everyone, manage all these companies, and distribute games WW without a huge loss. Especially since there best selling games are from Eidos, who has higher budget games, then most of their own in japan.  So Square WILL inevitably be screwed.

It's true, iOS is the safest route. But it's more of a short-term solution than a long-term one. Really it's just kind of keeping them afloat. Or more accurately, it's just slowing down the bleeding out process. SE's core fanbase doesn't care about iOS games and, while probably not a majority, it's estimated that most people that purchase their Final Fantasy iOS games only play them casually and aren't really big fans. This in turn keeps them from purchasing the incredibly vast amount of addon content released to try and nickel and dime the customer, but even still it's about the only thing they have going for them.

But it's also tarnishing their already poor reputation because they're viewed as a company that makes shallow casual games for quick money. Their iOS ports of well-liked games generally aren't very well received, either. Final Fantasy V, while not being the most popular in the series, is generally disliked largely due to the fact that it actually looks worse in many cases than in the original version, even though it's advertised as being enhanced.

Though maybe I'm overestimating the number of people that actually hate this route they're going. It might just be a case of a vocal minority complaining. In any case, they seem to be utterly screwed and either don't know or are unwilling to adapt.

However, many of the significant people that worked at Square are long gone anyway and have moved on to other things (most notably Monolith Soft), much like how Capcom isn't really what it used to be because so many of the developers have left, so it's not a huge deal. If either of these companies were to go under, their IPs would live on. I imagine Nintendo would acquire at least a couple of Capcom's, meaning people may actually get the Mega Man games they've been demanding for years.

This is misinformed, A lot of FF games releases on the Ios were brought by fans. A new Final Fantasy MMO called Final Fantasy Agito was made out of fan input (which is why I am worried about the game honestly), the issues is that  Square Enix and Final Fantasy, as I said before, are NOT EVEN CLOSE to the MAJORITY of Square Enix's money issues. Even if they did what you said, and it did increase sales by 20% it would not change the current outcome do to their dumb distribution and buyout decisions.

Despite what many people such as yourself think, Most again, of their money is actually coming fro Eidos. It is also where they are losing the most money. Square Enix is bigger than the money they make, and their stubbornness to cut anything or to slowdown anything will make the company crash and burn really quickly. Also your FFV example is just ONE example to the many fans and critics praising certain IOS games. Which really won't help them in the long-run and neither would blessing the 3DS/Vita fans.

Also, Square Enix developers leaving does not contribute to their fall in budget and game sales outside certain franchises. People don't actually look at the root cause, even if those developers did not leave, it would not have changed on single thing. Square Enix is to big, and does not make enough back to handle it. It's not even possible, they will either have to stop being stubborn or go down.

In Capcoms case, developers leaving, including certain ones that have been with certain franchise for a long time, are often falsely put in a bright light as if it's actually a bad thing or that those certain franchises may not be continued or have limited support. The honest truth in Capcoms case is that new big titles that fans want for some of these franchises are not possible because the base just is not there despite what the fans say, or they won't bring in money or both.

[doctorlaudanum]

Can't say I'm surprised, considering the company's ass-backwards antics as of late, but this is still disappointing to hear.

[sin2beta]

Though I hear more about terrible mismanagement from companies like Square Enix....  Who knows how they are still in business....

If they continue like they have been (which they will) they won't be in business for much longer. They've decided to almost entirely forgo their handheld fanbase (more in the West than Japan, admittedly) in favor of iOS games and are pouring an insane amount of their budgets into amazing graphics, but shallow story and gameplay, which has turned into just a constant bleed of profits. Shoving Final Fantasy XIII down everyone's throats certainly hasn't helped. Their recent announcement of porting Final Fantasy VI to iOS and once again leaving out their loyal handheld customers solidifies this. If they don't change something soon, they'll go under due to the constant loss of money.

This is a mixed post. Ios has been far more profitable for Final Fantasy than Handhelds have been in recent days.


Why? Because they are to big. In order to manage both sides with companies like Taito, Crystal Dynamics, etc. they have to make double what they were making before. Most of the money that came to Square Enix this gen was from Eidos. At the same time, Square can't afford to pay everyone, manage all these companies, and distribute games WW without a huge loss. Especially since there best selling games are from Eidos, who has higher budget games, then most of their own in japan.  So Square WILL inevitably be screwed.

It's true, iOS is the safest route. But it's more of a short-term solution than a long-term one. Really it's just kind of keeping them afloat. Or more accurately, it's just slowing down the bleeding out process. SE's core fanbase doesn't care about iOS games and, while probably not a majority, it's estimated that most people that purchase their Final Fantasy iOS games only play them casually and aren't really big fans. This in turn keeps them from purchasing the incredibly vast amount of addon content released to try and nickel and dime the customer, but even still it's about the only thing they have going for them.

But it's also tarnishing their already poor reputation because they're viewed as a company that makes shallow casual games for quick money. Their iOS ports of well-liked games generally aren't very well received, either. Final Fantasy V, while not being the most popular in the series, is generally disliked largely due to the fact that it actually looks worse in many cases than in the original version, even though it's advertised as being enhanced.

Though maybe I'm overestimating the number of people that actually hate this route they're going. It might just be a case of a vocal minority complaining. In any case, they seem to be utterly screwed and either don't know or are unwilling to adapt.

However, many of the significant people that worked at Square are long gone anyway and have moved on to other things (most notably Monolith Soft), much like how Capcom isn't really what it used to be because so many of the developers have left, so it's not a huge deal. If either of these companies were to go under, their IPs would live on. I imagine Nintendo would acquire at least a couple of Capcom's, meaning people may actually get the Mega Man games they've been demanding for years.

This is misinformed, A lot of FF games releases on the Ios were brought by fans. A new Final Fantasy MMO called Final Fantasy Agito was made out of fan input (which is why I am worried about the game honestly), the issues is that  Square Enix and Final Fantasy, as I said before, are NOT EVEN CLOSE to the MAJORITY of Square Enix's money issues. Even if they did what you said, and it did increase sales by 20% it would not change the current outcome do to their dumb distribution and buyout decisions.

Despite what many people such as yourself think, Most again, of their money is actually coming fro Eidos. It is also where they are losing the most money. Square Enix is bigger than the money they make, and their stubbornness to cut anything or to slowdown anything will make the company crash and burn really quickly. Also your FFV example is just ONE example to the many fans and critics praising certain IOS games. Which really won't help them in the long-run and neither would blessing the 3DS/Vita fans.

Also, Square Enix developers leaving does not contribute to their fall in budget and game sales outside certain franchises. People don't actually look at the root cause, even if those developers did not leave, it would not have changed on single thing. Square Enix is to big, and does not make enough back to handle it. It's not even possible, they will either have to stop being stubborn or go down.

In Capcoms case, developers leaving, including certain ones that have been with certain franchise for a long time, are often falsely put in a bright light as if it's actually a bad thing or that those certain franchises may not be continued or have limited support. The honest truth in Capcoms case is that new big titles that fans want for some of these franchises are not possible because the base just is not there despite what the fans say, or they won't bring in money or both.

Generally well said. I am not too sure if we actually disagree on anything. But here's one thing:

Keeping Inafune would not have saved Capcom. That's not what people are angry about. The fans are angry at the actions that facilitated Inafune leaving. We're not mad or blaming the failure of Capcom BECAUSE of what happened to Inafune. We are mad and blaming the failure of Capcom EMPATHISING with Inafune.

I don't think anyone seriously thinks a company went down the drain because someone left. I'm sorry. They're not that important. We think the company went down the drain due to a series of actions that culminated in a developer leaving. It is much easier to talk about a developer leaving as an umbrella term than constantly listing the bad mistakes.

If Capcom kept Inafune and carried on business as usual. Nothing would change. But Inafune is a symptom of something bad going on. It turns out that's true.

[Jakandsig]

Though I hear more about terrible mismanagement from companies like Square Enix....  Who knows how they are still in business....

If they continue like they have been (which they will) they won't be in business for much longer. They've decided to almost entirely forgo their handheld fanbase (more in the West than Japan, admittedly) in favor of iOS games and are pouring an insane amount of their budgets into amazing graphics, but shallow story and gameplay, which has turned into just a constant bleed of profits. Shoving Final Fantasy XIII down everyone's throats certainly hasn't helped. Their recent announcement of porting Final Fantasy VI to iOS and once again leaving out their loyal handheld customers solidifies this. If they don't change something soon, they'll go under due to the constant loss of money.

This is a mixed post. Ios has been far more profitable for Final Fantasy than Handhelds have been in recent days.


Why? Because they are to big. In order to manage both sides with companies like Taito, Crystal Dynamics, etc. they have to make double what they were making before. Most of the money that came to Square Enix this gen was from Eidos. At the same time, Square can't afford to pay everyone, manage all these companies, and distribute games WW without a huge loss. Especially since there best selling games are from Eidos, who has higher budget games, then most of their own in japan.  So Square WILL inevitably be screwed.

It's true, iOS is the safest route. But it's more of a short-term solution than a long-term one. Really it's just kind of keeping them afloat. Or more accurately, it's just slowing down the bleeding out process. SE's core fanbase doesn't care about iOS games and, while probably not a majority, it's estimated that most people that purchase their Final Fantasy iOS games only play them casually and aren't really big fans. This in turn keeps them from purchasing the incredibly vast amount of addon content released to try and nickel and dime the customer, but even still it's about the only thing they have going for them.

But it's also tarnishing their already poor reputation because they're viewed as a company that makes shallow casual games for quick money. Their iOS ports of well-liked games generally aren't very well received, either. Final Fantasy V, while not being the most popular in the series, is generally disliked largely due to the fact that it actually looks worse in many cases than in the original version, even though it's advertised as being enhanced.

Though maybe I'm overestimating the number of people that actually hate this route they're going. It might just be a case of a vocal minority complaining. In any case, they seem to be utterly screwed and either don't know or are unwilling to adapt.

However, many of the significant people that worked at Square are long gone anyway and have moved on to other things (most notably Monolith Soft), much like how Capcom isn't really what it used to be because so many of the developers have left, so it's not a huge deal. If either of these companies were to go under, their IPs would live on. I imagine Nintendo would acquire at least a couple of Capcom's, meaning people may actually get the Mega Man games they've been demanding for years.

This is misinformed, A lot of FF games releases on the Ios were brought by fans. A new Final Fantasy MMO called Final Fantasy Agito was made out of fan input (which is why I am worried about the game honestly), the issues is that  Square Enix and Final Fantasy, as I said before, are NOT EVEN CLOSE to the MAJORITY of Square Enix's money issues. Even if they did what you said, and it did increase sales by 20% it would not change the current outcome do to their dumb distribution and buyout decisions.

Despite what many people such as yourself think, Most again, of their money is actually coming fro Eidos. It is also where they are losing the most money. Square Enix is bigger than the money they make, and their stubbornness to cut anything or to slowdown anything will make the company crash and burn really quickly. Also your FFV example is just ONE example to the many fans and critics praising certain IOS games. Which really won't help them in the long-run and neither would blessing the 3DS/Vita fans.

Also, Square Enix developers leaving does not contribute to their fall in budget and game sales outside certain franchises. People don't actually look at the root cause, even if those developers did not leave, it would not have changed on single thing. Square Enix is to big, and does not make enough back to handle it. It's not even possible, they will either have to stop being stubborn or go down.

In Capcoms case, developers leaving, including certain ones that have been with certain franchise for a long time, are often falsely put in a bright light as if it's actually a bad thing or that those certain franchises may not be continued or have limited support. The honest truth in Capcoms case is that new big titles that fans want for some of these franchises are not possible because the base just is not there despite what the fans say, or they won't bring in money or both.

Generally well said. I am not too sure if we actually disagree on anything. But here's one thing:

Keeping Inafune would not have saved Capcom. That's not what people are angry about. The fans are angry at the actions that facilitated Inafune leaving. We're not mad or blaming the failure of Capcom BECAUSE of what happened to Inafune. We are mad and blaming the failure of Capcom EMPATHISING with Inafune.

I don't think anyone seriously thinks a company went down the drain because someone left. I'm sorry. They're not that important. We think the company went down the drain due to a series of actions that culminated in a developer leaving. It is much easier to talk about a developer leaving as an umbrella term than constantly listing the bad mistakes.

If Capcom kept Inafune and carried on business as usual. Nothing would change. But Inafune is a symptom of something bad going on. It turns out that's true.

Megaman fans and old school Capcom Fans however do literally think this. It's why the guy is getting put on the spot and people are buying Mighty Number 9 with the false belief that he was the only one taking care of the series where he was the one that made the series lose profit, even with games that costed next to no money to make. This is actually an even bigger reason why they and I are fairly certain that even catering to the fans of franchises that are on the bench would not benefit them at all. They need to change the company.

If anything IMO, Capcom need to put out the new goods. Try to set themselves in the green area. They need a restructuring like what Activision did (with more franchises of course)

[sin2beta]

Megaman fans and old school Capcom Fans however do literally think this. It's why the guy is getting put on the spot and people are buying Mighty Number 9 with the false belief that he was the only one taking care of the series where he was the one that made the series lose profit, even with games that costed next to no money to make. This is actually an even bigger reason why they and I are fairly certain that even catering to the fans of franchises that are on the bench would not benefit them at all. They need to change the company.

If anything IMO, Capcom need to put out the new goods. Try to set themselves in the green area. They need a restructuring like what Activision did (with more franchises of course)

Activision is a whore of a company. They have been since Atari died. This is why they are profitable. They're profitable because they make crap. They make profit with gimmicks to maximize profit while minimizing development cost. They also got in on some series that allow them to pump out yearly iterations with very little changes. Once they suck that franchise dry, they move on. (Tony Hawk -> Guitar Hero -> Call of Duty). They are like the aliens in Independence Day. That's a huge profit well. EA is doing quite well for the same reason (Madden anyone?). Activision doubles it up by releasing mediocre games (don't put as much dev time or money into them) licensed titles. (DeadPool, Cabella, Walking Dead). Honestly, just compare Activisions' Walking Dead to TellTales's.

It would be tough to enter this type market if for no other reason than the license format. You get better rates and more  profit for multigame deals. Capcom would get beaten by this every time by Activision. It has to do with buying power. If Capcom went the route of Activision they would be dead on arrival. Activision would bully them out. Two company's whoring out at once creates conflict. There is only so much one street corner can support. This is why EA can survive. They have completely different street corners (although they try to muscle in with Battlefield.)

Capcom has tried the yearly iteration game format. It works for them to a degree. (Street Fighter 4, Super Street Fighter 4, Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition)

Sadly, making money can be more difficult than doing what they guy next to you is doing, only harder. Capcom doing what Activision is doing but with more franchises would be naive in my opinion.