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Capcom layoffs, Senior VP Christian Svensson voluntarily leaves

Honestly? The guy would be an amazing fit at microsoft. Im really sorry to to see him go although he was frustrating vague and sometimea blantantly disgenious.


This has significant implication for capcom as a whole. The Capcom unity dream is dead. Expect Capcom to be far far less accessible and open moving on.


It means that US branch are going to be treated like the black sheep again. Projects like DmC for better or worse wont be happening going forward. We will still see outsourcing, but it will be more Dark void and Outbreak type affairs.


This really isnt good. at all.
 
and now i'm seriously asking: How is it that capcom business model is so wrong? It's like they deliberately want to crash and burn every remainder of what the company was.

People crave for a game that doesn't even need dubbing and pretty much all the items are legacy items that won't need translation (talking about MH here)? Hey, let's not localize it... because fuck money.
 

Mr. X

Member
First Seth and now Sven.

I don't there's anyone near the top anymore that cares what the customers are saying.
 

DaBoss

Member
Good luck to Sven and the others.

Hey Sven, since I know you're reading this, I always thought you did the best job you could and the bulk of the criticism directed to you seemed to be a result of the fact that as an American executive for a Japanese company you were frequently caught between a rock and a hard place in terms of having to do your bosses' bidding while simultaneously being the public face for some unpopular calls. Best of luck finding a new gig.

I always felt this way about Sven. I never hated him, it was always Capcom of Japan that made me disappointed.
 

Jawmuncher

Member
and now i'm seriously asking: How is it that capcom business model is so wrong? It's like they deliberately want to crash and burn every remainder of what the company was.

People crave for a game that doesn't even need dubbing and pretty much all the items are legacy items that won't need translation (talking about MH here)? Hey, let's not localize it... because fuck money.

Capcom as a whole has begun a slow descent considering how well they started this gen. Hopefully they can kick things back up with next gen. They're my favorite game company but as of late that hasn't really meant much.
 

GuardianE

Santa May Claus
It means that US branch are going to be treated like the black sheep again. Projects like DmC for better or worse wont be happening going forward. We will still see outsourcing, but it will be more Dark void and Outbreak type affairs.

That's exactly the type of outsourcing we won't see anymore. And for good reason. They're cheap, but risky ventures with crap output.

The only good thing I can see coming of this is that there's less outsourcing to Western studios as a whole. They need to restructure their creative team internally.
 
Holy shit, It pains me to watch Capcom jump down a cliff in less than 5 years :(. I predict they will go bankrupt halfway through next gen. Their IPs have become irrelevant.
 

FourMyle

Member
Finally. Did /not/ like Sven. Capcom needs to get their shit together.


Wish for him and his co-workers the best.

You think the guy didn't want to do cool shit for the fans? Capcom JP keeps them on a short leash. Go ask Seth Killian about it.
 

Jawmuncher

Member
Honestly? The guy would be an amazing fit at microsoft. Im really sorry to to see him go although he was frustrating vague and sometimea blantantly disgenious.


This has significant implication for capcom as a whole. The Capcom unity dream is dead. Expect Capcom to be far far less accessible and open moving on.


It means that US branch are going to be treated like the black sheep again. Projects like DmC for better or worse wont be happening going forward. We will still see outsourcing, but it will be more Dark void and Outbreak type affairs.


This really isnt good. at all.

Outbreak? You mean operation raccoon city right? Because at this point is take a outsourced outbreak game especially if it was a HD collection.
 

v0rtikal

Member
well he lied saying that the SF4 alternate costumes were not compatible with SSF4 (PC version) just to charge for the full package.. that's all I will remember from him.
 

Shahadan

Member
mezyUz7.jpg
 
This is BAD NEWS.

Best of luck to Sven and all the others who are laid off.

Motherfucking AA5 retail will probably never happen now.
 

Cynar

Member
Honestly? The guy would be an amazing fit at microsoft. Im really sorry to to see him go although he was frustrating vague and sometimea blantantly disgenious.


This has significant implication for capcom as a whole. The Capcom unity dream is dead. Expect Capcom to be far far less accessible and open moving on.


It means that US branch are going to be treated like the black sheep again. Projects like DmC for better or worse wont be happening going forward. We will still see outsourcing, but it will be more Dark void and Outbreak type affairs.


This really isnt good. at all.

The bolded part is a good thing at least.
 

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
Best of luck to all who lost their jobs. I deeply respected Svensson for his connection with the community. Whoever hires him, is getting a great man.
 
Good luck Sven. He was Capcom's community punching bag when he really didn't deserve most of it. Not easy working in a multinational company.
 

vg260

Member
Wow. I was about to ask on Unity we he hadn't been posting in a while.

I liked the guy. He liked games and was the driving force for a number of big projects (MvC3), PC support and community efforts.

I think he genuinely understood fans and did his best in that regard while still maintaining the company line, which is way harder than many people here think. He also put himself in a tough spot in that regard. People who had issues with him seemed to want to shoot the messenger so to speak.

I will certainly miss his fan engagement on Unity. His postings were actually very informative and revealing.
 
D

Deleted member 126221

Unconfirmed Member
Goodbye Ace Attorney 5 retail, or anything else to satisfy niche audiences, for that matter...
 

Zonic

Gives all the fucks
Posted on Sven's G+:

While it comes as something of a relief, today is bittersweet. After nearly eight years, it is my final day at Capcom.

This departure is not a bad thing for me and it’s happening mostly because I’d suggested it during the early planning for today’s reorg. While I wish the company the best of luck, Capcom is going in a different direction and the need for people at my level, relative to other areas, is lacking. Those who know me well, know that I’ve been ready to go for quite some time.

That said, I’m grateful for the opportunities Capcom has afforded me. I stayed as long as I did in large part for the potential I felt the company had (and still may have). But I also stayed for the people.

I’ve worked alongside extremely talented and passionate folks in nearly every office we have. There are far too many to name but I really want to thank them all for the time we spent in the trenches together. I have truly enjoyed working with each and every one of you and would jump at the chance to do so again in the future.

We tried some things that worked. We tried others that didn’t. We fought fights that were worth fighting and even won a few. I'm proud of what we accomplished.

I’ve had the opportunity to interface with the best fans any company could ever hope to have. I know that I wasn’t always able to deliver what they wanted, but I promise that I did my best to champion their needs and wants. So “thank you” to the fans who made my job rewarding, challenging, and, if nothing else, interesting.

But enough about the past. What’s next?

In the near term, here’s where I need your help. Sadly, I’m not the only one affected by the reorganization today. Over the next few days, I’ll be gathering resumes from as many as I can and will be sending them out to my contacts around the industry to see if there’s a “love connection” to be made.

At the same time, if your company is hiring in one of these areas, please let me know via FB message; doing so might save some time for all concerned.

As for my future, I’ve got a few interesting opportunities from a variety of sectors in the gaming market already lined up for consideration. About the only thing they have in common is that the level of authority will be more in-line with the levels of responsibility than I’ve had the last several years and they all have the potential to disrupt the gaming space in exciting ways.

That’s all I’m willing to say for now. I’ll have more news to share after decompressing for a couple weeks, seeing some family and playing some games. I still need to finish The Last of Us and thankfully, GTAV is just around the corner. :)
 
Capcom USA problem is Capcom Japan is the one calling all the shots.

Yeah. There were times where Sven said some blatantly stupid shit, shit that it was obvious he didnt beleive simply because he had to toe the line with the mothership. I Always beleived his heart was firmly in the right place. He was far from a mere PR guy and probably is the highest ranking exec in any publisher that was readily accessable. If you read some of his posts on Capcom unity that arent related specifically to any one title, you learn alot about how the games industry actually works.


the problem is people will alway remember him as the "no comment at this time" "this is an experiement" and "buy this to get this"


BTW most of capcoms PC support is soley down to him pushing for it internally. Including the move to steam.
 
Hey Sven, since I know you're reading this, I always thought you did the best job you could and the bulk of the criticism directed to you seemed to be a result of the fact that as an American executive for a Japanese company you were frequently caught between a rock and a hard place in terms of having to do your bosses' bidding while simultaneously being the public face for some unpopular calls. Best of luck finding a new gig.

I'm listening to this mad man. Great post.

Wish luck to all those that lost their jobs :(
 

jooey

The Motorcycle That Wouldn't Slow Down
Did not particularly care for Sven at all nor the attitude and lack of respect he showed fans over the years.

I guess it would be attitude and disrespect if you were one of the morons he countered with logic and reason.
 
Best of luck to those affected. I may not agree with everything Capcom USA has been a part of, but the real problems come from the suits in Japan.
 
Hey Sven, since I know you're reading this, I always thought you did the best job you could and the bulk of the criticism directed to you seemed to be a result of the fact that as an American executive for a Japanese company you were frequently caught between a rock and a hard place in terms of having to do your bosses' bidding while simultaneously being the public face for some unpopular calls. Best of luck finding a new gig.

He could take Reggie's spot.
 
And there goes the last Capcop that was willing to actually fight for stuff from Capcom Japan.

Hey Sven, since I know you're reading this, I always thought you did the best job you could and the bulk of the criticism directed to you seemed to be a result of the fact that as an American executive for a Japanese company you were frequently caught between a rock and a hard place in terms of having to do your bosses' bidding while simultaneously being the public face for some unpopular calls. Best of luck finding a new gig.

Pretty much this. I like that he frequently answered questions on Capcom Unity, too. (Especially in regards to providing insight on the logistics involved with digital re-releases of legacy content)

(The AAI2 shenanigans could have dealt with a little more honestly, though)

So much for AA5 retail. Oh well, thanks for trying, Sven.

Fuck, I just remembered this. The dream is dead. :(
 

Sylver

Banned
It's sad and hard to see how Capcom is drying out but well Capcom todays situation it's cause PSX/PS2 bolted brains Inafune, Kamiya, Mikami.
 
Although I understand his unfortunate situation, Sven didn't have to be a dickhead to people in the forums about things. That should be a basic requirement of being someone that interfaces with the community.

That said, hopefully he finds something that suits him better and doesn't put him in bad spots.
 
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