Capcom CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto Plans to Hire 100 New Devs Every Year

[MarlaDesat]

Capcom CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto Plans to Hire 100 New Devs Every Year

Capcom has put recruitment at the center of its "five-year plan" to boost business.

Capcom CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto has promised a focus on recruitment in a message to investors. As part of Capcom's new five-year plan, Tsujimoto says, "From now on, I plan to hire at least 100 software developers every year to give us an even more powerful development workforce. Furthermore, I want to establish clear targets for these developers so they can help make Capcom even stronger." Capcom says that developing for games for next-gen consoles takes eight to ten times [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131235-Capcom-Next-Gen-Development-Eight-to-Ten-Times-More-Work] more hours of work, so adding new developers is key.

The message to investors says that Capcom needs improve its efforts on existing brands, mobile and online content, and downloadable content. Downloadable content was a focus of Capcom's Capcom teased [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/127661-Capcom-Predicts-Severe-Contraction-In-Packaged-Games] a new title in the Ace Attorney series, brand new IP, and a revival of its most "classic" IPs coming in 2014.

Tsujimoto points to 5.2 million global unit sales [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/129188-Capcom-Credits-Monster-Hunter-4-Sales-for-Record-Earnings] of Resident Evil 6.

Source: Games Industry International [http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/president/ceo_message.html]


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[MrCaptainA]

Interesting article, but unless they've managed to bolster their coffers from $152m since Sept 2013.... (just reread the article, Dead Rising 3 has helped on that front - but still..) with what funds are they planning to do this? Furthermore, the decisions they've made as a company over the past few years aren't exactly inspiring (read as Where's that new Megaman game you promised, started, then axed?)

 

[Colt47]

Interesting article, but unless they've managed to bolster their coffers from $152m since Sept 2013.... with what funds are they planning to do this? Furthermore, the decisions they've made as a company over the past few years aren't exactly inspiring (read as Where's that new Megaman game you promised, started, then axed?)

Not just that, but how are they planning on releasing quality titles by bulk hiring developers? It's a good investment long term since eventually all those developers will get the experience needed to build something good, but in the short term...

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well it seems good at the start, but turning over employee numbers really doesn't sound like a creative process as much as a game development sweat shop.

 

[EbonBehelit]

So, how about an English version of Monster Hunter 4? Eh?

To be honest, I REALLY don't like where the AAA industry is going - 8x10 times more work is worrying considering it's only a marginal increase in visual quality over last-gen. How are they supposed to turn a profit?

... and what happens when ANOTHER gen of consoles is released and the bar is raised AGAIN? This model can't possibly be sustainable long-term.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Interesting article, but unless they've managed to bolster their coffers from $152m since Sept 2013.... (just reread the article, Dead Rising 3 has helped on that front - but still..) with what funds are they planning to do this? Furthermore, the decisions they've made as a company over the past few years aren't exactly inspiring (read as Where's that new Megaman game you promised, started, then axed?)

Maybe they need those extra 100 developers per year to come up with exciting and innovative new ways to not make a new Megaman game?

 

[Trishbot]

... Why do I get the feeling these 100 new hires will NOT be working on a new installment of the following:

Viewtiful Joe, Dino Crisis, Onimusha, Power Stone, Captain Commando, Ghosts 'N Goblins, Maximo, Gargoyle's Quest, Demon's Crest, Okami, Killer7, Darkstalkers, Bionic Commando, Rival Schools, Puzzle Fighter, Godhand, Chaos Legion, P.N.03, Final Fight, Lost Planet, Ghost Trick, Plasma Sword, Forgotten Worlds, Gotcha Force, Remember Me, and any and all things Mega Man.

 

[gigastar]

Interesting article, but unless they've managed to bolster their coffers from $152m since Sept 2013.... with what funds are they planning to do this? Furthermore, the decisions they've made as a company over the past few years aren't exactly inspiring (read as Where's that new Megaman game you promised, started, then axed?)

Not just that, but how are they planning on releasing quality titles by bulk hiring developers? It's a good investment long term since eventually all those developers will get the experience needed to build something good, but in the short term...

It is just probably Capcom planning to open up more in-house studios, rather than rely on outsourcing to make the bulk of their content.

Which, you probably couldnt blame them for considering that most of their outsourced titles over the past 2 years got poor reviews, bombed in sales, alienated the fans of the franchise or any of the three.

 

[MrCaptainA]

Interesting article, but unless they've managed to bolster their coffers from $152m since Sept 2013.... (just reread the article, Dead Rising 3 has helped on that front - but still..) with what funds are they planning to do this? Furthermore, the decisions they've made as a company over the past few years aren't exactly inspiring (read as Where's that new Megaman game you promised, started, then axed?)

Maybe they need those extra 100 developers per year to come up with exciting and innovative new ways to not make a new Megaman game?

The issue is that to date there have been 4 Megaman games cancelled (Rockman Online, Megaman Universe, Megaman Legends 3, and Maverick Hunter). The most insulting of which was Megaman Legends 3, which was scrapped and blamed on the fans after Keiji Inafune left the development team. MML3 even had a working (albeit unfinished) copy, yet it was still scrapped.

Sadly, unless Capcom pull some truly phenomenal titles out of the bag (and I sincerely hope they do), I can't see any reason to support them further. Also, don't get me wrong, I want Capcom to succeed, I want to see outstanding titles come from them again, but I'm not going to be holding my breath.

One last point as well.... it's about time they brought their game development back in house, because their outsourced projects helped to destroy otherwise great franchises (read DmC and Resi 6 for two prime examples)

I just want them to get it right.... yes I want a new megaman game, but I also want to see Capcom take an appropriate level of care for a company whos games I grew up playing.

 

[MrCaptainA]

It is just probably Capcom planning to open up more in-house studios, rather than rely on outsourcing to make the bulk of their content.

Which, you probably couldnt blame them for considering that most of their outsourced titles over the past 2 years got poor reviews, bombed in sales, alienated the fans of the franchise or any of the three.

So much this!

 

[gigastar]

... Why do I get the feeling these 100 new hires will NOT be working on a new installment of the following...

If the "revival of its most "classic" IPs coming in 2014." line is anything to go by, id expect at least one of what you listed is coming back this year. Probably not Megaman, that would be too optimistic.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

So fire all the staff and hire 100 newbs each year, sounds like a great game plan there Crapcom hopefully Capcom will dissolve soon so better devs can take a crack at their IPs since they do not use half of them....

 

[MysticSlayer]

So fire all the staff and hire 100 newbs each year, sounds like a great game plan there Crapcom hopefully Capcom will dissolve soon so better devs can take a crack at their IPs since they do not use half of them....

Where are you getting that they plan on firing people, or that they plan to hire only people new to the industry? Neither of those things is in the article, or are you getting the firing part from the layoffs that occurred last year? Anyways, if anything, both ideas seem counterproductive to their desire to strengthen their workforce to deal with the extra work of next-gen consoles, increase their output, and focus more on in-house development of games. Consequently, I doubt their planning on doing either too much. Well, they'll probably have to settle for rookie developers, but I doubt that that is their first priority.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

So fire all the staff and hire 100 newbs each year, sounds like a great game plan there Crapcom hopefully Capcom will dissolve soon so better devs can take a crack at their IPs since they do not use half of them....

Where are you getting that they plan on firing people, or that they plan to hire only people new to the industry? Neither of those things is in the article, or are you getting the firing part from the layoffs that occurred last year? Anyways, if anything, both ideas seem counterproductive to their desire to strengthen their workforce to deal with the extra work of next-gen consoles, increase their output, and focus more on in-house development of games. Consequently, I doubt their planning on doing either too much. Well, they'll probably have to settle for rookie developers, but I doubt that that is their first priority.

Its normal in the US to hire devs for a project then fire/layoff them when the project ends.

Capcom is cheap and has alot of issues.They simply can not afford to hire on new people in any meaningful way. It makes sense for them to hire the cheapest labor for their games as they move to social gaming(tablets,phones,ect) as their main focus.

 

[MysticSlayer]

So fire all the staff and hire 100 newbs each year, sounds like a great game plan there Crapcom hopefully Capcom will dissolve soon so better devs can take a crack at their IPs since they do not use half of them....

Where are you getting that they plan on firing people, or that they plan to hire only people new to the industry? Neither of those things is in the article, or are you getting the firing part from the layoffs that occurred last year? Anyways, if anything, both ideas seem counterproductive to their desire to strengthen their workforce to deal with the extra work of next-gen consoles, increase their output, and focus more on in-house development of games. Consequently, I doubt their planning on doing either too much. Well, they'll probably have to settle for rookie developers, but I doubt that that is their first priority.

Its normal in the US to hire devs for a project then fire/layoff them when the project ends.

Capcom is cheap and has alot of issues.They simply can not afford to hire on new people in any meaningful way. It makes sense for them to hire the cheapest labor for their games as they move to social gaming(tablets,phones,ect) as their main focus.

Or it's just bad business, and given that we're talking about Capcom, that doesn't surprise me. A lot of companies think constantly hiring new labor will help them produce more and turn a greater profit, failing to realize that that only works to a certain point. I actually knew a guy whose entire business career was based on turning around failing businesses, and one of the main problems he had to fix among the businesses was that they hired far too many workers thinking it would help them. Part of me wonders if Capcom is just setting itself up for that same problem.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

So fire all the staff and hire 100 newbs each year, sounds like a great game plan there Crapcom hopefully Capcom will dissolve soon so better devs can take a crack at their IPs since they do not use half of them....

Where are you getting that they plan on firing people, or that they plan to hire only people new to the industry? Neither of those things is in the article, or are you getting the firing part from the layoffs that occurred last year? Anyways, if anything, both ideas seem counterproductive to their desire to strengthen their workforce to deal with the extra work of next-gen consoles, increase their output, and focus more on in-house development of games. Consequently, I doubt their planning on doing either too much. Well, they'll probably have to settle for rookie developers, but I doubt that that is their first priority.

Its normal in the US to hire devs for a project then fire/layoff them when the project ends.

Capcom is cheap and has alot of issues.They simply can not afford to hire on new people in any meaningful way. It makes sense for them to hire the cheapest labor for their games as they move to social gaming(tablets,phones,ect) as their main focus.

Or it's just bad business, and given that we're talking about Capcom, that doesn't surprise me. A lot of companies think constantly hiring new labor will help them produce more and turn a greater profit, failing to realize that that only works to a certain point. I actually knew a guy whose entire business career was based on turning around failing businesses, and one of the main problems he had to fix among the businesses was that they hired far too many workers thinking it would help them. Part of me wonders if Capcom is just setting itself up for that same problem.

Pretty much and ya know I hope they do its been shown time and time again they can not deal with modern gaming. Sure DR and MH are doing well but thats hardly enough to support a large developer.

 

[weirdee]

so, now instead of their current business plan of refusing to fund any projects that don't immediately offer absurd sales goals, they'll just hire 100 more developers and refuse to fund any of THEIR projects that don't immediately offer absurd sales goals

brilliant!

 

[Atmos Duality]

Stupid, stupid Capcom...
Hiring more dudes isn't going to magically make your games better.

Especially when you're completely happy with pissing off your existing market base with "Less For More" gambits and "Keep Away" marketing games like you've done with Mega Man.

 

[Colt47]

Interesting article, but unless they've managed to bolster their coffers from $152m since Sept 2013.... with what funds are they planning to do this? Furthermore, the decisions they've made as a company over the past few years aren't exactly inspiring (read as Where's that new Megaman game you promised, started, then axed?)

Not just that, but how are they planning on releasing quality titles by bulk hiring developers? It's a good investment long term since eventually all those developers will get the experience needed to build something good, but in the short term...

It is just probably Capcom planning to open up more in-house studios, rather than rely on outsourcing to make the bulk of their content.

Which, you probably couldnt blame them for considering that most of their outsourced titles over the past 2 years got poor reviews, bombed in sales, alienated the fans of the franchise or any of the three.

True, but they also lost some in-house power as well, with Keiji Inafune leaving to do his own kickstarter projects sometime during or after the Megaman Legends 3 fiasco. They need some established developers to lead the pack, push ideas through management, and keep the franchise fires alight.

 

[Infernai]

... Why do I get the feeling these 100 new hires will NOT be working on a new installment of the following:

Viewtiful Joe, Dino Crisis, Onimusha, Power Stone, Captain Commando, Ghosts 'N Goblins, Maximo, Gargoyle's Quest, Demon's Crest, Okami, Killer7, Darkstalkers, Bionic Commando, Rival Schools, Puzzle Fighter, Godhand, Chaos Legion, P.N.03, Final Fight, Lost Planet, Ghost Trick, Plasma Sword, Forgotten Worlds, Gotcha Force, Remember Me, and any and all things Mega Man.

And Devil May Cry! Don't forget, devil may cry!

Series is probably dead after how it's last outing went.