 Logo used since 1990 | |
 Headquarters in Chūō-ku, Osaka | |
Native name | 株式会社カプコン |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki-gaisha Kapukon |
| Formerly |
|
| Company type | Public |
| TYO:9697 | |
| ISIN | JP3218900003 |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | May 30, 1979; 46 years ago (1979-05-30)[1] |
| Founder | Kenzo Tsujimoto |
| Headquarters | Chūō-ku,Osaka, Japan |
Key people |
|
| Products | Complete list of games |
| Revenue |  ¥169.6 billion (2024)[2] |
| ¥65.7 billion (2024)[2] | |
| ¥48.4 billion (2024)[2] | |
| Owner | Tsujimoto family (22.71%) |
Number of employees | 3,766 (2025)[3] |
| Divisions | Development Division 1–2 |
| Subsidiaries | See§ Branches and subsidiaries |
| Website | capcom |
Capcom Co., Ltd. (Japanese:株式会社カプコン,Hepburn:Kabushiki-gaisha Kapukon) is a Japanesevideo game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed andmulti-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful beingResident Evil,Monster Hunter,Street Fighter,Mega Man,Devil May Cry,Onimusha,Dead Rising,Dragon's Dogma,Ace Attorney, andMarvel vs. Capcom. Established in 1979, it has become an international enterprise with subsidiaries inEast Asia (Hong Kong),Europe (London,England), andNorth America (San Francisco,California).
Capcom's predecessor, I.R.M. Corporation, was founded on May 30, 1979[4] byKenzo Tsujimoto, who was still president ofIrem Corporation when he founded I.R.M. He worked at both companies at the same time until leaving Irem in 1983.
The original companies that spawned Capcom's Japan branch were I.R.M. and its subsidiary Japan Capsule Computers Co., Ltd., both of which were devoted to the manufacture and distribution of electronic game machines.[5] The two companies underwent a name change to Sanbi Co., Ltd. in September 1981.[5] On June 11, 1983, Tsujimoto established Capcom Co., Ltd.[4] to take over the internal sales department.[6]
In January 1989, Capcom Co., Ltd. merged with Sanbi Co., Ltd., resulting in the current Japan branch.[5] The name Capcom is aclipped compound of "CapsuleComputers", a term coined by the company for thearcade machines it solely manufactured in its early years, designed to set themselves apart frompersonal computers that were becoming widespread.[7] "Capsule" alludes to how Capcom likened its game software to "a capsule packed to the brim with gaming fun", and to the company's desire to protect its intellectual property with a hard outer shell, preventing illegal copies and inferior imitations.[7]
Capcom's first product was themedal gameLittle League (July 1983) followed byFever Chance (Oct 1983). In December 1983, the video arcadeActy 24 was opened under the direct management of Capcom. It released its firstarcade video game,Vulgus (May 1984).[5] Starting with the arcade hit1942 (1984), they began designing games with international markets in mind.[8] The successful 1985 arcade gamesCommando andGhosts 'n Goblins have been credited as the products "that shot [Capcom] to 8-bitsilicon stardom" in the mid-1980s. Starting withCommando (late 1985), Capcom began licensing their arcade games for release onhome computers, notably to British software housesElite Systems andU.S. Gold in the late 1980s.[9]
Beginning with aNintendo Entertainment System port of1942 (published in Dec. 1985), the company ventured into the market ofhome console video games,[5] which would eventually become its main business.[10] The Capcom USA division had a brief stint in the late 1980s as avideo game publisher forCommodore 64 andIBM PC DOS computers, development of these arcade ports was handled by other companies, however. Capcom created home video game franchises, includingResident Evil in 1996,[11] while their highest-grossing title is thefighting gameStreet Fighter II (1991), driven largely by its success in arcades.[12]
In the late 1980s, Capcom was on the verge of bankruptcy when the development of a stripMahjong game calledMahjong Gakuen started. It outsoldGhouls 'n Ghosts, the eighth highest-grossingarcade game of 1989 in Japan, and is credited with saving the company from financial crisis.[13][14]
Capcom has been noted as the last major publisher to be committed to 2D games, though it was not entirely by choice. The company's commitment to theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System as its platform of choice caused them to lag behind other leading publishers in developing 3D-capable arcade boards.[15] Also, the 2D animated cartoon-style graphics seen in games such asDarkstalkers: The Night Warriors andX-Men: Children of the Atom proved popular, leading Capcom to adopt them as a signature style and use them in more games.[15]
In 1990, Capcom entered thebowling industry withBowlingo. It was acoin-operated,electro-mechanical, fully automated miniten-pin bowling installation. It was smaller than a standardbowling alley, designed to be smaller and cheaper foramusement arcades.Bowlingo drew significant earnings in North America upon release in 1990.[16]
In 1994, Capcom adapted itsStreet Fighter series of fighting games intoa film of the same name. While commercially successful, it was critically panned.A 2002 adaptation of itsResident Evil series faced similar criticism but was also successful in theaters. The company sees films as a way to build sales for its video games.[17]
In the early 2000s, Capcom focused many of its resources on bringing series from arcade and earlier consoles onto more modern hardware, bringing these games out from 2D to 3D space. One of the most successful titles during this period wasResident Evil 4 for theGameCube (2005), which received universal acclaim, was a financial success for Capcom, and led to ports to multiple systems.[18] Other major successes includeStreet Fighter IV (2008).[18]
Capcom debunked rumors that it was leaving the arcade business in 2001.[19] While it did remain in the business in Japan, it gradually left the American market in 2003 and closedits arcade subsidiary in March 2004.[20]
Despite its successes from the previous decade, Capcom released several titles that were considered misfires during the 2010s. BothResident Evil 5 (2009) andResident Evil 6 (2012) were seen to lean far too much into action-oriented gameplay while forgoing the balance with the survival horror elements of the earlier games in the series.[18]Street Fighter V (2016) was released with minimal single-player content and poor online features.[21][18]Street Fighter V failed to meet its sales target of 2 million in March 2016.[22] Capcom outsourced the nextDevil May Cry title toNinja Theory, resulting inDmC: Devil May Cry (2013), a re-envisioning of the series that failed to resonate with players.[18] Other newer IP likeLost Planet andAsura's Wrath also failed to gain significant audiences.Dragon's Dogma (2012), however, was one of the few newer titles during this period to be seen as a success.[18]
Capcom partnered withNyu Media in 2011 to publish and distribute the Japaneseindependent (dōjin soft) games that Nyulocalized into the English language.[23] The company works with the Polish localization company QLOC toport Capcom's games to other platforms;[24] notably, examples areDmC: Devil May Cry's PC version and itsPlayStation 4 andXbox One remasters,Dragon's Dogma's PC version, andDead Rising's version on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
In 2012, Capcom came under criticism for controversial sales tactics, such as the implementation of disc-locked content, which requires players to pay for additional content that is already available within the game's files, most notably inStreet Fighter X Tekken. The company defended the practice.[25] It has also been criticized for other business decisions, such as not releasing certain games outside of Japan (most notably theSengoku Basara series), abruptly cancelling anticipated projects (most notablyMega Man Legends 3), and shutting downClover Studio.[26][27][28]
On August 27, 2014, Capcom filed apatent infringement lawsuit againstKoei Tecmo Games at the Osaka District Court for 980 million yen in damage. Capcom claimed Koei Tecmo infringed a patent it obtained in 2002 regarding a play feature in video games.[29]
In 2015, the PlayStation 4 version ofUltra Street Fighter IV was pulled from the Capcom Pro Tour due to numerous technical issues and bugs.[30]
Following several years of unclear direction, management at Capcom changed in the mid-2010s to try to refocus the company on its successful properties. The company recognized that many of their titles during that period were attempts to bring Western game concepts into their titles but without failing to capture how these mechanics were implemented in Western games. To correct this, the company changed its approach to try to develop games that would be fun for players worldwide, rather than developing games that felt like they were niche Japanese titles.[18] The main studios in Japan began reaching out to Capcom's other worldwide studios to collaborate on game design to appeal to a broader range of players.[31] Additionally, Capcom began developing theRE Engine to replace the olderMT Framework, helping their studios develop across a wider range of hardware including newer consoles.[18]
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017) was the first game Capcom released under this new approach, which critics saw as a return to the series' roots.[18] A similar approach was used to bring theMonster Hunter series, generally seen as a niche Japanese game due to its steep learning curve, to a broader market.Monster Hunter: World (2018) was developed to modernize the series' gameplay to simplify the learning curve. The game received critical praise and became Capcom's best-selling game as of 2025.[18]
On January 28, 2019, Capcom announced thatSega would take over technical services for its arcade games starting in April.[32][33]
On November 2, 2020, the company reported that its servers were affected byransomware, scrambling its data, and the threat actors, theRagnar Locker hacker group, had allegedly stolen 1TB of sensitive corporate data and were blackmailing Capcom to pay them to remove the ransomware. By mid-November, the group began putting information from the hack online, which included contact information for up to 350,000 of the company's employees and partners, as well as plans for upcoming games, indicating that Capcom opted to not pay the group. Capcom affirmed that no credit-card or other sensitive financial information was obtained in the hack.[34]
In 2021, Capcom removed appearances of theRising Sun Flag from their rerelease ofStreet Fighter II. Although Capcom did not provide an official explanation for the flag's removal, due to the flag-related controversy, it is speculated that it was done so to avoid offending segments of the international gaming community.[35][36][37]
Artist and author Judy A. Juracek filed a lawsuit in June 2021 against Capcom forcopyright infringement. In the court filings, she asserted Capcom had used images from her 1996 bookSurfaces[38] in their cover art and otherassets forResident Evil 4,Devil May Cry and other games. This was discovered due to the 2020 Capcom data breach, with several files and images matching those that were included within the book's companionCD-ROM. The court filings noted one image file of a metal surface, named ME0009 in Capcom's files, to have the same exact name on the book's CD-ROM. Juracek was seeking over$12 million in damages and $2,500 to $25,000 in false copyright management for each photograph Capcom used.[39] Before a court date could be made, the matter was settled "amicably" in February 2022.[40] It comes on the heels of Capcom being accused by Dutch movie director Richard Raaphorst of copying the monster design of his movieFrankenstein's Army into their gameResident Evil Village.[41]
In February 2022, it was reported byBloomberg that Saudi Arabia'sPublic Investment Fund had purchased a 5% stake in Capcom for an approximate value of US$332 million.[42]
In July 2023, Capcom acquired Tokyo-based computer graphics studio Swordcanes Studio.[43]
In July 2024, Capcom acquired Taiwan-based computer graphics studio Minimum Studios.[44]
In its beginning few years, Capcom's Japan branch had three development groups referred to as "Planning Rooms", led byTokuro Fujiwara,Takashi Nishiyama andYoshiki Okamoto.[45][46] Later, games developed internally were created by several numbered "Production Studios", each assigned to different games.[47][48] Starting in 2002, the development process was reformed to share technologies and expertise better, and the individual studios were gradually restructured into bigger departments responsible for different tasks.[48] While there are self-contained departments for the creation of arcade, pachinko and pachislot, online, and mobile games, the Consumer Games R&D Division is an amalgamation of subsections in charge of game development stages.[48][49][50]
Capcom has two internal Consumer Games Development divisions:
In addition to these teams, Capcom commissions outside development studios to ensure a steady output of titles.[54][55] However, following poor sales ofDark Void andBionic Commando, its management has decided to limit outsourcing to sequels and newer versions of installments in existing franchises, reserving the development of original titles for its in-house teams.[56] The production of games, budgets, and platform support are decided on in development approval meetings, attended by the company management and the marketing, sales and quality control departments.[48]
Although the company often relies on existing franchises, it has also published and developed several titles for theXbox 360,PlayStation 3, andWii based on original intellectual property:Lost Planet: Extreme Condition,Dead Rising,Dragon's Dogma,Asura's Wrath, andZack and Wiki.[57] During this period, Capcom also helped publish several original titles from up-and-coming Western developers, includingRemember Me,Dark Void, andSpyborgs, titles other publishers were not willing to gamble on.[58][59] Other games of note are the titlesŌkami,Ōkamiden, andGhost Trick: Phantom Detective.
Capcom Co., Ltd.'s head office building and R&D building are inChūō-ku,Osaka.[60] The parent company also has a branch office in theShinjuku Mitsui Building inNishi-Shinjuku,Shinjuku,Tokyo;[61] and the Ueno Facility, a branch office inIga,Mie Prefecture.[60]
The international Capcom Group encompasses 12 subsidiaries in Japan, rest of East Asia, North America, and Europe.[60][48]
In addition to home, online, mobile, arcade,pachinko, andpachislot games, Capcom publishesstrategy guides;[5] maintains its ownPlaza Capcomarcade centers in Japan; and licenses its franchise and character properties for tie-in products, movies, television series, and stage performances.[10]
Suleputer, an in-house marketing and music label established in cooperation withSony Music Entertainment Intermedia in 1998, publishes CDs, DVDs, and other media based on Capcom's games.[62] Captivate (renamed from Gamers Day in 2008), an annual private media summit, is traditionally used for new game and business announcements.[63]
Capcom's first arcade board system was theCP System, released in 1988 with the gameForgotten Worlds. They later designed theCP System II andCP System III.
In 2019, Capcom released the Capcom Home Arcade, containing a total of 16 built-in CPS-1 and CPS-2 emulated games.[64]
| Franchise | First release | Sales (m) |
|---|---|---|
| Resident Evil | 1996 | 174.0 |
| Monster Hunter | 2004 | 122.0 |
| Street Fighter | 1987 | 57.0 |
| Mega Man | 1987 | 43.0 |
| Devil May Cry | 2001 | 36.0 |
| Dead Rising | 2006 | 18.0 |
| Dragon's Dogma | 2012 | 13.0 |
| Ace Attorney | 2001 | 13.0 |
| Marvel vs. Capcom | 1996 | 12.0 |
| Onimusha | 2001 | 8.9 |
Capcom started itsStreet Fighter franchise in 1987. The series offighting games are among the most popular in their genre. Having sold over 50 million copies, it is one of Capcom's flagship franchises. The company also introduced itsMega Man series in 1987, which has sold over 40 million copies.
The company released the first entry in itsResident Evil survival horror series in 1996, which became its most successful game series, selling over 150 million copies. After releasing the second entry in theResident Evil series, Capcom began aResident Evil game forPlayStation 2. As it was significantly different from the existing series' games, Capcom decided to spin it into its own series,Devil May Cry. The first three entries were exclusively for PlayStation 2; further entries were released for non-Sony consoles. The entire series has sold over 30 million copies. Capcom began itsMonster Hunter series in 2004, which has sold over 100 million copies on a variety of consoles.
Capcom compiles a "Platinum Titles" list, updated quarterly, of its games that have sold over one million copies. It contains over 100 video games. This table shows the top ten titles, by sold copies, as of March 31, 2025.[66]
| Title | Release date | Platform(s) considered | Sales (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monster Hunter: World | January 2018 | PlayStation 4,Xbox One,PC | 21.70[a] |
| Monster Hunter Rise | March 2021 | Nintendo Switch,PlayStation 4,PlayStation 5,Xbox One,Xbox Series X/S,PC | 17.50 |
| Resident Evil 2 | January 2019 | PlayStation 4,PlayStation 5,Xbox One,Xbox Series X/S,Nintendo Switch,PC | 15.80 |
| Monster Hunter World: Iceborne | September 2019 | PlayStation 4,Xbox One,PC | 15.40 |
| Resident Evil 7: Biohazard | January 2017 | PlayStation 4,PlayStation 5,Xbox One,Xbox Series X/S,Nintendo Switch,PC | 15.40 |
| Resident Evil Village | May 2021 | PlayStation 4,PlayStation 5,Xbox One,Xbox Series X/S,Nintendo Switch,PC | 12.20 |
| Resident Evil 4 | March 2023 | PlayStation 4,PlayStation 5,Xbox Series X/S,PC | 10.60 |
| Monster Hunter Wilds | February 2025 | PlayStation 5,Xbox Series X/S,PC | 10.50 |
| Devil May Cry 5 | March 2019 | PlayStation 4,Xbox One,PC | 10.50 |
| Resident Evil 3 | April 2020 | PlayStation 4,PlayStation 5,Xbox One,Xbox Series X/S,Nintendo Switch,PC | 10.20 |
| Name | Foundation | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| Arika | November 1, 1995 | Founded byAkira Nishitani |
| Crafts & Meister | June 1, 2004 | Founded byNoritaka Funamizu andKatsuhiro Sudo |
| Deep Space | May 5, 1998 | Co-founded byTokuro Fujiwara, a subsidiary ofSCEI[67] |
| Dimps | March 6, 2000 | Founded byTakashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto |
| Game Republic | July 1, 2003 | Founded byYoshiki Okamoto |
| Inti Creates | May 8, 1996 | Founded by Takuya Aizu |
| Level-5 Comcept | December 1, 2010 | Founded byKeiji Inafune as Comcept |
| PlatinumGames | October 1, 2007 | Founded byShinji Mikami,Atsushi Inaba,Hideki Kamiya, and Tatsuya Minami |
| Tango Gameworks | March 1, 2010 | Founded byShinji Mikami |
| UTV Ignition Games | September 26, 2001 | Sawaki Takeyasu joinedIgnition Tokyo, a subsidiary of UTV Ignition Games |
| Whoopee Camp | 1996 | Founded byTokuro Fujiwara |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
