Capcom
Kenzo Tsujimoto stood at the helm of Irem Corporation in 1979 when he established a new entity called I.R.M. Corporation on the 30th of May 1979. He held leadership roles at both companies simultaneously until his departure from Irem in 1983. The original entities that formed Capcom's Japanese branch were I.R.M. and its subsidiary Japan Capsule Computers Co., Ltd., which focused on manufacturing electronic game machines. These two organizations changed their name to Sanbi Co., Ltd. in September 1981. On the 11th of June 1983, Tsujimoto founded Capcom Co., Ltd. to manage internal sales operations. The company merged with Sanbi Co., Ltd. in January 1989 to form the current Japan branch structure.
The name Capcom derives from "Capsule Computers," a term coined by the company for arcade machines they manufactured exclusively during those early years. This naming choice reflected their desire to protect intellectual property with a hard outer shell against illegal copies. Their first product was the medal game Little League released in July 1983, followed by Fever Chance in October 1983. In December 1983, the video arcade Acty 24 opened under direct management of Capcom. They released Vulgus as their first arcade video game in May 1984. Starting with the arcade hit 1942 in 1984, they began designing games specifically for international markets. Commando arrived in late 1985, while Ghosts 'n Goblins became another successful arcade title that same year. These products earned credit for shooting Capcom to 8-bit silicon stardom in the mid-1980s.
Capcom ventured into home console video games beginning with a Nintendo Entertainment System port of 1942 published in December 1985. The company eventually made this market its main business focus. During the late 1980s, Capcom faced near-bankruptcy conditions when developing Mahjong Gakuen, a strip Mahjong game. This title outsold Ghouls 'n Ghosts, which ranked as the eighth highest-grossing arcade game of 1989 in Japan. Mahjong Gakuen is credited with saving the company from financial crisis.
The company remained committed to 2D games longer than other major publishers during this period. Their choice to use Super Nintendo Entertainment System as their primary platform caused them to lag behind competitors in developing 3D-capable arcade boards. Games like Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors and X-Men: Children of the Atom featured popular 2D animated cartoon-style graphics. Capcom adopted these visuals as a signature style and used them across more titles. In 1990, they entered the bowling industry with Bowlingo, an electro-mechanical mini ten-pin bowling installation designed for amusement arcades. Bowlingo drew significant earnings in North America upon release that same year.
Capcom focused many resources on bringing series from arcade and earlier consoles onto modern hardware during the early 2000s. They moved these games from 2D space into 3D environments. Resident Evil 4 for GameCube released in 2005 received universal acclaim and became a financial success. The title led to ports across multiple systems. Street Fighter IV arrived in 2008 as another major success story. Capcom debunked rumors about leaving the arcade business in 2001 while remaining active in Japan.
The company gradually left the American market in 2003 and closed its arcade subsidiary in March 2004. This shift marked their transition away from physical arcade operations toward digital distribution models. Their focus expanded to international markets through strategic partnerships and localized releases. The company began licensing arcade games for home computer releases notably to British software houses Elite Systems and U.S. Gold in the late 1980s. These moves helped establish Capcom as an international enterprise with subsidiaries in East Asia, Europe, and North America by the mid-2000s.
Despite previous successes, Capcom released several titles considered misfires during the 2010s. Resident Evil 5 launched in 2009 and Resident Evil 6 followed in 2012, both leaning too heavily into action-oriented gameplay while neglecting survival horror balance. Street Fighter V released in 2016 with minimal single-player content and poor online features. It failed to meet sales targets of 2 million copies by March 2016. DmC: Devil May Cry arrived in 2013 after outsourcing to Ninja Theory but failed to resonate with players.
Newer intellectual properties like Lost Planet and Asura's Wrath also struggled to gain significant audiences. Dragon's Dogma released in 2012 stood out as one of few successful new titles during this period. In 2012, Capcom faced criticism for controversial sales tactics including disc-locked content requiring payment for additional material already present within game files. The company defended these practices despite public backlash. They also faced criticism for not releasing certain games outside Japan and abruptly cancelling anticipated projects like Mega Man Legends 3. On the 27th of August 2014, Capcom filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Koei Tecmo Games seeking 980 million yen in damages at the Osaka District Court.
Management changed in the mid-2010s following years of unclear direction to refocus on successful properties. The company recognized that many recent titles attempted Western concepts without properly implementing their mechanics. To correct this approach, they developed games designed to be fun for players worldwide rather than niche Japanese experiences. Main studios in Japan began collaborating with worldwide studios to appeal to broader player bases. Capcom started developing the RE Engine to replace older MT Framework technology across multiple hardware platforms.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard released in 2017 marked the first game under this new strategy. Critics viewed it as returning to series roots while receiving critical praise. A similar approach modernized Monster Hunter: World which arrived in 2018 to simplify the steep learning curve of previous entries. This title received critical acclaim and became Capcom's best-selling game as of 2025. The company announced Sega would take over technical services for arcade games starting April 2019. Their focus shifted toward refining existing franchises instead of chasing unproven concepts.
Capcom's Japan branch initially had three development groups called Planning Rooms led by Tokuro Fujiwara, Takashi Nishiyama, and Yoshiki Okamoto. In 1988, the company restructured into two divisions where one focused on arcade games and another on console games. These were led by Okamoto and Fujiwara respectively. Starting in 2002, the development process was reformed to share technologies better through numbered Production Studios handling different tasks.
The Consumer Games R&D Division now serves as an amalgamation of subsections responsible for various game development stages. Two internal Consumer Games Development divisions exist today. Division 1 headed by Jun Takeuchi develops Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Dead Rising, Dragon's Dogma, Ghosts 'n Goblins, and other major franchises targeting global audiences. Division 2 led by Ryozo Tsujimoto handles Monster Hunter, Mega Man, Ace Attorney, Onimusha, and traditional IP alongside fighting game franchises like Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom. The company commissions outside studios but limits outsourcing to sequels following poor sales of Dark Void and Bionic Commando. Production budgets and platform support decisions occur during approval meetings attended by management and marketing departments.
On the 2nd of November 2020, Capcom reported servers affected by ransomware scrambling data. The Ragnar Locker hacker group allegedly stole 1TB of sensitive corporate information while blackmailing the company to pay removal fees. By mid-November, the group began releasing stolen data online including contact details for up to 350,000 employees and partners plus plans for upcoming games. Capcom opted not to pay the group despite the threat. They affirmed no credit-card or financial information was obtained in the breach.
Artist Judy A. Juracek filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in June 2021 claiming Capcom used images from her 1996 book Surfaces in Resident Evil 4 and Devil May Cry cover art. Files matching those on the book's companion CD-ROM were discovered due to the 2020 data breach. One image file named ME0009 appeared with identical naming conventions across both sources. Juracek sought damages before the matter settled amicably in February 2022. In July 2023, Capcom acquired Tokyo-based computer graphics studio Swordcanes Studio. They purchased Taiwan-based Minimum Studios in July 2024. Bloomberg reported Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund bought a 5% stake worth approximately US$332 million in February 2022.
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Common questions
When was Capcom founded and by whom?
Kenzo Tsujimoto founded Capcom Co., Ltd. on the 11th of June 1983 to manage internal sales operations. The company merged with Sanbi Co., Ltd. in January 1989 to form its current Japan branch structure.
What does the name Capcom stand for?
The name Capcom derives from Capsule Computers, a term coined by the company for arcade machines they manufactured exclusively during those early years. This naming choice reflected their desire to protect intellectual property with a hard outer shell against illegal copies.
Which game saved Capcom from near-bankruptcy in the late 1980s?
Mahjong Gakuen is credited with saving the company from financial crisis after it outsold Ghouls 'n Ghosts. This strip Mahjong game helped stabilize the business when Capcom faced near-bankruptcy conditions while developing it.
Who led the original three development groups at Capcom?
Capcom's Japan branch initially had three development groups called Planning Rooms led by Tokuro Fujiwara, Takashi Nishiyama, and Yoshiki Okamoto. These leaders managed different aspects of game creation before the company restructured into two divisions in 1988.
When did Capcom experience a major data breach involving ransomware?
On the 2nd of November 2020, Capcom reported servers affected by ransomware scrambling data. The Ragnar Locker hacker group allegedly stole 1TB of sensitive corporate information while blackmailing the company to pay removal fees.