Capcom sets 80 per cent Western sales target

Capcom has set its sights on increasing sales in North America and Europe by 80 per cent, as it looks to continue its Western expansion.

As of March 2008, Capcom sold 53 per cent of all its games in Japan. However, the company is determined to implement a major shift by ensuring 50 per cent of future sales come from North America and 30 per cent from Europe, with Japanese sales dropping to 20 per cent.

The Resident Evil publisher also confirmed plans to pursue acquisitions in Europe and the US "through friendly means," rather than seek mergers with other Japanese companies.

"We will continue to pursue further growth overseas while implementing aggressive measures such as strengthening the sales capabilities of our overseas subsidiaries and improving our product line-up targeting the overseas market," noted Capcom in its annual report.

The company plans to switch to a direct-sale model in France and Spain, following success in the UK and Germany, as well as increasing the size of its marketing staff in the European region.

To expand its portfolio of games, Capcom intends to release more titles in the sports genre, following success with Moto GP 07 and We Love Golf! for the Wii, in a bid to tap into the lucrative casual market.

"We will continue to supply game titles in this genre by collaborating with companies with an already established record for developing sport-related games," said the company.

An increase in mobile gaming is also on the cards, as is the intention to increase the number of titles for the PC market.

Following the release of Devil May Cry 4 on PS3 and Xbox 360, which has sold over 2.32 million units, Capcom has reiterated its desire to create multiplatform titles going forward.

"Demonstrated by the fact that many global hits in this fiscal year have been multi-platform, it is becoming more and more apparent that only companies with proven development and technical capabilities will be able to continue to achieve growth in this complex market environment," said Capcom.

"All major titles launched during the next fiscal year or thereafter will be developed as multi-platform games."

The company also revealed projected sales for three of its major releases due in the next fiscal year.

Resident Evil 5 is expected to sell 2.3 million units, Street Fighter IV 1.7 million and Bionic Commando – developed by Grin in Sweden – is expected to sell 1.5 million copies.

Capcom expects to release 78 new game titles and sell a total of 18 million units of old and new titles in the next fiscal year, with net sales of JPY 58.3 billion and operating income of JPY 12.7 billion.