I'm unsure if lock them down means continually sign contracts or outright purchase them.
Source: http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/09/dmc-devil-may-cry-ninja-theory-have-been-amazing-say-capcom/VG247 said:I then asked Jones for his thoughts on Capcoms drive to collaborate with Western developers and to create a family of worldwide partners, to which he replied, There are very few good independent developers, and if you get the chance to lock one or two down and continue to work with them, as a publisher you have to do that.
Because firstly youll never have enough internal capacity given the expense involved in making games to keep your portfolio level where it needs to be. Guys like Ninja Theory and Dontnod who in the case of Ninja Theory have a proven track record of delivering quality products more or less on time, and at an expected level of quality I mean yeah, you have to keep working with those guys.