This is actually a pretty good example of WHY companies are pulling away from trying to appeal to the old core: the titles that get called out as RPG Maker abominations tend to be the ones that got full updates by senior staff, while the outsources and mobile studio products went over well.
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Capcom reinvesting MH4 profits into new 4 billion yen internal Japanese mobile studio
- Thread starter crinale
- Start date
This is actually a pretty good example of WHY companies are pulling away from trying to appeal to the old core: the titles that get called out as RPG Maker abominations tend to be the ones that got full updates by senior staff, while the outsources and mobile studio products went over well.
I get investing in new avenues to keep a business fresh but what I don't understand is this constant funneling of money out of things that are clearly working for get rich quick schemes. It's like these people read investment journals and don't actually understand their own industry.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Sounds like they want that short term net gain. I wonder how the long term will work out for them.
curlyfriski
Banned
I'm no mobile hater, but damn the growth of that black bar is terrifying.
.
They just had to explicitly say that they took the money from Monster Hunter, didn't they?
They could've just gone with "Capcom makes investment towards mobile game development" but that wouldn't twist the knife in quite the same way for fans.
It's a parody at this point. It's like there's embroidery in every room at Capcom that says BETRAY FANS
They could've just gone with "Capcom makes investment towards mobile game development" but that wouldn't twist the knife in quite the same way for fans.
It's a parody at this point. It's like there's embroidery in every room at Capcom that says BETRAY FANS
The thing that annoys me about this is they're using MH4 profits to do this!
I'm sure the people paying for MH4 didn't buy it to support MOBILE gaming!
Up to Capcom what they do with their money of course, but if their console releases suffer as a result, it won't end well for them.
I'm sure the people paying for MH4 didn't buy it to support MOBILE gaming!
Up to Capcom what they do with their money of course, but if their console releases suffer as a result, it won't end well for them.
PhoenixDawn
Member
Oh hey, we made a lot of money making a game for a dedicated handheld system. Let's go and put all of that money into mobile where results have been wildly inconsistent! I can understand they're going for maximum profit, but you'd think they would at least keep most of the MH4 profits and put them, at least in part, towards making further installations in the series.
Sseklebeast
Member
This is NOT why I bought Monster Hunter 4!
*grumble*
*grumble*
Herb Alpert
Banned
so, Capcom, why don't you bring MH4 in the west? You will have more profits and then create even more shitty mobile games! With microtransactions!
you mean smartphones right?
It was the same for me when I went there. Everyone has a smartphone, but quite a few of them won't be getting another one once they are buying a new phone if what my friend says is true(he had read it somewhere, or heard about it on the news, I personally find it more interesting than actually likely to be accurate).
Let's flip this around. Handheld is obviously working. Handheld is working fabulously well; MH is a property second only to Pokemon and it did it on the second-place PSP.
So where do you put the money from that?
Do you funnel it back into MH? Where do you put it in MH? Your current team is obviously the best of the best, so probably not into staffing. More assets? MH is notoriously asset-light, a factor that the playerbase seems not to mind or even appreciates as it lets them learn what's there very well; you could say that going asset-heavy with an MH title would be about as useful as modeling outside the stadium in Madden and then allowing play there. A lower MSRP to increase volume? MH's greatest hits editions already sell extremely well, there's no need to push the initial price down since the games are still active a year later. A yearly cadence, when the off-year greatest hits editions already sell with no added content?
Do you chase Pokemon? First of all, do you have the confidence that young kids will appreciate the design works and gameplay systems enough to make it worthwhile? Do you invest all four billion yen in a year or so's TV run of a cartoon (at 10-20 million to produce and then 60-80 million an episode to broadcast nationwide), something your current fanbase is even less likely to appreciate?
If you're not pumping it back into MH, you have three main choices (unless you go the Sony route and make all your money by putting your cash cushion into real estate and stock market investments):
1) Console gaming.
The console market has shrunk heavily in Japan since its peak in the SNES days. At this point your opportunities lie mainly overseas, where your title will be:
a) An RE6-style, AAAA extravaganza that requires all the investment of a Gears or a CoD in order to compete for the "ooh, that looks shiny" mass-market, yet will inevitably not sell as well because it's launching without system-seller-exclusive hype or an active multiplayer ecosystem of millions.
b) A God Hand or Okami-like AA title that, whether or not the reviewers get it, will be written off by the mass market as "Japan jank", "unintuitive", and "HD is hard". Past performance suggests that this is at best a coinflip between "total bomb" and "core fans love it - barely profitable", with no chance for "breakout hit".
2) Handheld gaming.
What do you make?
Do you make a traditional RPG? Why are you making a traditional RPG on handheld, with higher development and distribution costs, when you can make one on mobile without quality loss?
Do you make a 3D action game? It's the one popular genre that really benefits from a handheld's dedicated controls and reliable performance. But why are you making a 3D action game when you already have the genre king 3D action game?
Do you make a rhythm game? Why are you making a rhythm game on handheld when the gameplay is just as good on mobile and the game systems are perfect for selling songs one by one?
What other genres are reliable winners on handheld?
3) Mobile gaming.
It's booming hugely, and \4bn is enough to make you a major player in the ecosystem (whereas it might pay for the entire worldwide release of one handheld game, or the development-but not the advertisement, physical production, or worldwide release-of a console game).
In summary, the things that are "clearly working" are either not actually working, or working so well that more money would not help. So the next step is to put serious effort into adjusting to the new major platform, just like worked last gen when it was the X360/PC easily-portable duo.
That's the thing. They aren't. The vast majority of mobile games don't make as much revenue as the vast majority of traditional console games. Yet anyway. The very best-selling mobile games usually make about as much money as a 1 or 2 million-selling traditional game from what I've heard. It's low-risk-low-reward.
hokagespit
Member
Too late
the fuck. autoplay... the shit
i despise the mobile gaming trend.
how a reskin of bejeweled suddenly won over the masses ill never understand.
it all makes me wanna cry to be honest. capcom has a few of the best ips under their belt(imo of course) but they choose this.
just give us a ps4 monster hunter or dragons dogma for the love of crapcom
There will probably be one. There were PS2 and PS360 and PC Monster Hunters all throughout the past decade.
(Relatively) no one bought them. Think about that one.
Chuckpebble
Member
So do they consider MH4 to be a mobile game?
You could say the same thing about PC gaming.
I think the only real problem is how mobile games are priced. Recently it's been found that pretty much all the most successful iOS games are F2P. There's no market for a $20 or $40 mobile game. At least not a proven one.
SE seems to be doing well. I also spent a pretty penny buying all those caveshmup shooters on iOS. Good times.
SolidusDave
Member
There was only one PS2 game in the west, the very first one, released with no marketing.
For PS360PC there were only that MMO microtransaction fest and the straight PSP port, both not available in the west.
The main titles didn't sell too bad on PS2/Wii in Japan. They should still develop a PS4/XB1 MH that actually goes beyond the PS2 formula (and partly graphics) just to enhance the strength of the IP, especially in the west. Then hand out variants for whatever mobile&handheld platform as easy money cash.
HigherLevel
Member
Seriously who is buying all these mobile games all the big Japanese publishers are dying to make more of?
ummm Japan?
So in other words, your solution is to chase that AAAA mass-marketed dream in the west, and then attempt to scale it down for the platform they historically do best on and the platform that has the least-established competition.
Well, it was only a matter of time. Japan's big devs sure have been focused on churning out more mobile games. I can already guess what this means for the console market, but how does this effect the dedicated handheld industry? I mean, Monster Hunter 4 was still a large success, I can't see them plunging out now of all times.
FreedomFighter
Member
I think this news is even more harmful to consoles in Japan than it is handhelds.
gigantor21
Member
SolidusDave
Member
What competition do they have on home consoles?
I mean sure, Tri didn't light up sales in the West, but it still showed that there is a market in the west, combine that with home platforms being more popular than in Japan (and the WiiU not selling), they just need an impressive title on PS360 or now PS4/XB1 to strengthen the IP in the west imo. Unless they don't care about that of course.
Even downscaled/"classic" titles for mobile platforms will sell well because people (especially in Japan) pay for fact that you can play on the go.
If that were the case they wouldn't be bothering to invest this money in an entire new studio.
DoDonGouki
Member
stump sock
Member
I wish they'd funnel that money into bringing circle pad pro's out in the US or porting MH games to Vita or something
The circle pad pro is out in the US.
It's not like they're not going to make another MH game eventually.
diffusionx
Gold Member
Sounds about right, smart companies plan for the future and this is where the future is headed.
I see a lot of projections for mobile revenue. Is there data for profits? How are the profits distributed (a lot of companies making profit or a handful making a ton of profit)?
Also, how do companies deal with the fact that the market is flooded with cheap or free knock-off games? Do mobile companies distinguish themselves with quality or with more content? Do either of these strategies work?
I feel that mobile growth will not necessarily lead to profitability but I admit I have no evidence.
Also, how do companies deal with the fact that the market is flooded with cheap or free knock-off games? Do mobile companies distinguish themselves with quality or with more content? Do either of these strategies work?
I feel that mobile growth will not necessarily lead to profitability but I admit I have no evidence.
Herb Alpert
Banned
This really frightens me about the next Nintendo handheld...
Smiles and Cries
Member
I wanted MH4HD but this is where the money is headed
damn
(yes, yes, it makes sense businesswise, but I can still hope it fails so damn hard)
Hahaha, what is up with that .gif? That is amazing.