Capcom Limiting Western Devs to "Established" Brands
Following the dismal sales failure of last year's Bionic Commando [http://www.bioniccommando.com/], Capcom says it will handle the development of new games primarily in Japan, while Western studios will only work on existing, well-established properties.
Developed by Swedish studio Grin, which Capcom [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93842-Grin-Goes-Under] to take a second look at how it makes use of Western developers and how much responsibility they'll be given in the future.
"We are considering ways to separate the roles of activities in Japan and overseas," the company said during a Q&A session with analysts. "We plan to develop new titles primarily in Japan."
Western studios like Grin, meanwhile, will be relegated to working on existing properties "with well-established characters and universal themes," it continued. "Overseas companies will also handle certain parts and/or lineups of such games."
Capcom sounded like it would prefer to avoid dealing with Western developers altogether, if it could. Unfortunately, at this point they appear to be a necessary evil. "We cannot develop a sufficient number of titles without using the resources of these companies," it said. "This is why we plan to continue using these alliances."
Of course, as Bionic Commando Rearmed [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27029/Capcom_To_Work_With_Western_Devs_Only_On_Existing_Brands.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraNews+%28Gamasutra+News%29], the 2008 remake of the NES classic. Maybe there's a simple truth being overlooked here: Good games, and bad, can come from anywhere.
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Following the dismal sales failure of last year's Bionic Commando [http://www.bioniccommando.com/], Capcom says it will handle the development of new games primarily in Japan, while Western studios will only work on existing, well-established properties.
Developed by Swedish studio Grin, which Capcom [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93842-Grin-Goes-Under] to take a second look at how it makes use of Western developers and how much responsibility they'll be given in the future.
"We are considering ways to separate the roles of activities in Japan and overseas," the company said during a Q&A session with analysts. "We plan to develop new titles primarily in Japan."
Western studios like Grin, meanwhile, will be relegated to working on existing properties "with well-established characters and universal themes," it continued. "Overseas companies will also handle certain parts and/or lineups of such games."
Capcom sounded like it would prefer to avoid dealing with Western developers altogether, if it could. Unfortunately, at this point they appear to be a necessary evil. "We cannot develop a sufficient number of titles without using the resources of these companies," it said. "This is why we plan to continue using these alliances."
Of course, as Bionic Commando Rearmed [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27029/Capcom_To_Work_With_Western_Devs_Only_On_Existing_Brands.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraNews+%28Gamasutra+News%29], the 2008 remake of the NES classic. Maybe there's a simple truth being overlooked here: Good games, and bad, can come from anywhere.
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. But more seriously that is pretty annoying. I only find that bearable when they mix it up quite alot (like how final fantasy always uses different settings etc) or when they take a good game and actually improve it which I guess isn't going to be happening too much here. (Or maybe im just too pessimistic).
