Capcom Europe Cuts Half Its Staff

[Andy Chalk]

Capcom Europe Cuts Half Its Staff

Capcom Europe is reportedly laying off more than half its employees as part of the company's ongoing restructuring.

Capcom suffered another blow today, as reports emerged that the company is eliminating more than half of its employees in Europe. The cuts follow layoffs at its U.S. branch over the summer that saw the departure [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125897-Capcom-Suffers-Layoffs] of high-profile Senior Vice President Christian Svensson.

"Following a restructure at its U.S. operation, Capcom's European organization is currently evaluating its structure to ensure it is in the best position to take advantage of the changing market conditions the industry is facing," Capcom said in a statement to MCV.

Capcom recently acknowledged [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/127661-Capcom-Predicts-Severe-Contraction-In-Packaged-Games] that it has been slow to adjust to the rapid growth of digital distribution and that its strategy of relying on outsourced development hasn't been working out. As a result, the company is now changing its focus to "migrating DLC development in-house and increasing its proportion within the consumer segment."

It's not known how many employees will be affected by the layoffs but in its 2013 annual report, Capcom reported a total headcount, including consolidated subsidiaries, of 2476.

Source: MCV [http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/capcom-europe-to-cut-more-than-half-its-staff/0122059]


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[bafrali]

Can't say I didn't see this coming. But it is always a shame to see people losing their jobs...unless they are bad at it of course.

 

[AldUK]

Maybe if they made the games that their fans actually want, they wouldn't be struggling as much. What happened to Breath of Fire, Capcom?

 

[Seracen]

There was an interesting bit of news a few weeks back, wherein I found out that Capcom has about $160 million banked. Considering upper tier AAA titles require over $200 mill to produce, that's distressing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BRb-ZDHGsc

Honestly, they have nothing to blame but their own hubris. Shoveling various forms of crap, and expecting fans to accept it, is not a good thing. I love Capcom's IP's, they are a mainstay in the gaming industry. However, the level of trust just isn't there anymore.

I remember people saying that if Capcom couldn't do anything but destroy franchises and screw over the consumer, it was better that it disappear. They might get their wish, and I can't say I disagree, which is truly sad.

 

[subtlefuge]

There was an interesting bit of news a few weeks back, wherein I found out that Capcom has about $160 million banked. Considering upper tier AAA titles require over $200 mill to produce, that's distressing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BRb-ZDHGsc

Honestly, they have nothing to blame but their own hubris. Shoveling various forms of crap, and expecting fans to accept it, is not a good thing. I love Capcom's IP's, they are a mainstay in the gaming industry. However, the level of trust just isn't there anymore.

I remember people saying that if Capcom couldn't do anything but destroy franchises and screw over the consumer, it was better that it disappear. They might get their wish, and I can't say I disagree, which is truly sad.

A company like Capcom's war chest is for acquisitions, pending investments, legal expenses, licensing, merchandising, etc. They won't pay for game development with cash reserves.

It's not like a person who writes checks and uses their debit card to pay their bills. Capcom will have dozens of other finance sources, and the only thing that you can tell from the 160 million is that they are not about to make a major cash-intensive move.

Now if Capcom gets behind on its bills, gets denied credit, has pension liabilities stack up, or something else that could sink a major company, then there's a cause for concern. Downsizing is never good, but it just means a smaller company, rather than a dying one. I'd personally bet that Capcom is in bad shape, but the 160 million has nothing to do with it, and is in no way an indication of their performance.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

Maybe Capcom should have made that Megaman game that everyone has been asking for... Oh wait, it's being done by someone else. LOL.

Still, people losing jobs is no laughing matter. I only hope the best for them.

 

[Fox12]

I thought it would be nice to watch Capcom crash and burn, but I really do feel bad for the employees. If they want to lay people off, maybe they should start from the top down.

I can't feel too bad for Capcom. I've basically been boycotting them for years now. It's easy when they don't make good games anymore. They're almost as bad as EA, if not significantly worse. I would love to see them sell their IP's to decent companies.

 

[Foolery]

Maybe if they made the games that their fans actually want, they wouldn't be struggling as much. What happened to Breath of Fire, Capcom?

It's a mobile phone game now! Also PC, possibly.
Yeah, I don't feel bad for Capcom either. They brought this on themselves. A bummer for the employees, though.

I can't feel too bad for Capcom. I've basically been boycotting them for years now. It's easy when they don't make good games anymore. They're almost as bad as EA, if not significantly worse. I would love to see them sell their IP's to decent companies.

Eh, I wouldn't go that far. They're closer to Square Enix, except with on-disc dlc and being even more out of touch with the fanbase of their franchises. I still like Monster Hunter though. And Dragon's Dogma.

 

[Karadalis]

As long as they can churn out monster hunter games for the asian market capcom will remain in one form or another.

Those games sell like cupcakes over in japan.

To bad it never got the attention it deserved on the western market. Finaly a game that really tests your skills as a player and no one plays it because it takes to much effort?

Doubt we will get another dragons dogma thought. If only it had been delivered with a more complete storyline and more character progression of everyone around you. The combat system was awesome and the loot and level system too.. just.. the story was complete garbage (Grigori rocked... the dragon should have gotten way more screentime)


Oh well, atleast we still got from software with the dark souls series.

 

[Strazdas]

Sad for the employees loosing jobs but very happy capcom is downsizing.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

I'd fell sorry for Capcom, if this didn't feel like a natural response to their horrible business moves, their fighting with Keiji(the guy who helped build them up) and abuse and neglect of fans, with re-re-re-releases of the same games, like how Marvel vs Capcom 3 was pretty weak, and had problems, so rather then fix it, they made another version.

On Locked on Disc Content
Blaming fans for why Legends was cancled

What a horrible company.

 

[weirdee]

while it seems like that they'd have learned by now, even if they did, it seems a little too late, but if they've learned anything at all, i hope it was worth every dollar they imagined they would have