Capcom has big plans to strengthen its position in the mobile games market. The Japanese publisher believes that making more AAA-type titles for the platform could benefit its sales and revenues in the long run.
Capcom’s mobile gaming ambitions
In an interview with Bloomberg (spotted on ResetEra), Capcom COO Haruhiro Tsujimoto commented on the company’s plans to sell 100 million copies of its games annually.
In order to achieve this ambitious goal, the Japanese publisher should continue to release AAA projects every year, as well as what were translated as “repeated titles” (i.e. new installments in the long-running series like Resident Evil).
Tsujimoto also noted that Capcom plans to expand beyond the PC and console markets: “While we continue to use PC as our main platform, I hope to achieve our 100 million copies goal with contribution from AAA-type titles on smartphones.”
He added that Capcom wanted to bring its major games to mobile much earlier, but “our technology were not able to meet that requirement.” One of the biggest shifts happened thanks to the company’s partnership with Apple, with Resident Evil Village and the RE4 remake coming to iPhone 15 Pro later this year.
According to Capcom’s latest annual report, its mobile games only reached ¥2.8 billion ($18.8 million) in revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023 — down 33% from the previous year. So it is no surprise the company continues to seek new opportunities in this area, such as porting RE games to the iPhone or licensing its IP to third-party mobile developers (as in the case with Monster Hunter Now).
Breakdown of Capcom’s Digital Contens (games) revenue
Launch of Monster Hunter Now
On September 13, Capcom released Monster Hunter Now, an AR title developed by Pokémon GO maker Niantic. Its announcement in April had a positive impact on the company’s shares, and the game itself launched with 3 million pre-registrations.
- According to AppMagic, Monster Hunter Now has already reached $11.4 million in revenue from in-app purchases and generated over 4.5 million downloads globally.
- Japan is the number one country by revenue, accounting for 73% of the total. It is followed by Hong Kong (9%), the US (7.1%), Taiwan (3.6%), and Singapore (1%). So Monster Hunter Now is currently making the most money in Asia.
- Most downloads are also coming from this region. Japan accounts for 25.4% of the total, followed by the US (15.5%), Taiwan (8.2%), Indonesia (5.1%), and Thailand (4%).
- As of now, Monster Hunter Now has an RpD (revenue per download) of $2.5 globally, and it is significantly higher in Japan — $7.16.