In brief: Capcom has given PC gamers some good news by confirming that the platform will remain a central focus of its gaming ambitions, but that doesn't mean the Japanese company would be interested in a takeover by Microsoft. The less-welcome news is president Haruhiro Tsujimoto's suggestion that modern games are too cheap and should have their price increased.
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Tsujimoto said that Capcom's goal is to sell 100 million copies of its games within a single year.
During Apple's Wonderlust event earlier this month, Cupertino revealed that a number of modern console and PC games were coming to the iPhone 15 Pro. There will be native support for some massive titles, including Resident Evil Village and the Resident Evil 4 remake.
Tsujimoto confirmed that these "high quality" mobile releases will count toward Capcom's 100-million sales target. But that doesn't mean PC releases are being pushed into the background.
"For many years, PC has been our main platform," Tsujimoto said. "We are currently selling in 230 countries and regions through this PC platform."
"While we will continue to use the PC as our main platform, I hope to achieve our 100-million-copies goal with contribution from triple-A-type titles on smartphones."
Following the leak of internal Microsoft documents last week that revealed the Windows maker was considering buying Sega, Bungie, IO Interactive, Nintendo, Valve, and other companies, Tsujimoto was asked how Capcom would feel about being bought by the tech giant. It seems the president would "gracefully decline" any acquisition offer. "I believe it would be better if we were equal partners," he added.
Tsujimoto also talked about Capcom's own policy of acquiring companies. He said the organization prefers organic growth over purchasing smaller studios. "I also believe we can utilize external partners," he said, "but we have no intention of acquiring companies."
In a separate interview with Nikkei, Tsujimoto talked about how much more expensive game development has become since the days of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, or Famicom as the console was called when it launched in Japan in 1983. He noted that despite development now being "100 times more costly" due to factors such as wages, the selling price of games has not kept pace and still comes in at around $50 to $70.
"Personally, I feel that game prices are too low. Development costs are about 100 times higher than during the Famicom era, but software prices have not gone up that much," said Tsujimoto. "There is also a need to raise wages. Considering the fact that wages are rising in the industry as a whole, I think raising unit prices is a healthy option for business."
The year so far has been a good one for Capcom. Both the Resident Evil 4 remake and Street Fighter 6 won rave reviews and made it onto our latest Best PC Games You Should be Playing list.