Capcom Co., Ltd. (Japanese: 株式会社カプコン, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Kapukon) is a Japanese company that makes video games. It has created many popular and highly praised game series, including Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, Street Fighter, Mega Man, Devil May Cry, Dead Rising, Ace Attorney, Dragon's Dogma, and Marvel vs. Capcom. Founded in 1979, Capcom has grown into a global company with branches in East Asia (Hong Kong), Europe (London, England), and North America (San Francisco, California).

History

Capcom's earlier company, I.R.M. Corporation, was created on May 30, 1979, by Kenzo Tsujimoto. At that time, Tsujimoto was still the president of Irem Corporation. He worked for both companies at the same time until he left Irem in 1983.

The companies that led to the creation of Capcom's Japan branch were I.R.M. and its subsidiary, Japan Capsule Computers Co., Ltd. Both companies focused on making and selling electronic game machines. In September 1981, these two companies changed their names to Sanbi Co., Ltd. On June 11, 1983, Tsujimoto started a new company called Capcom Co., Ltd. to manage the sales department.

In January 1989, Capcom Co., Ltd. and Sanbi Co., Ltd. merged, forming the current Japan branch of Capcom. The name "Capcom" comes from the shortened version of "Capsule Computers," a term the company used for the arcade machines it made early in its history. This name was chosen to distinguish its products from personal computers and to show how the company saw its games as full of fun, like a capsule packed with excitement. It also reflected the company's goal to protect its ideas from being copied.

Capcom's first product was the medal game Little League, released in July 1983, followed by Fever Chance in October 1983. In December 1983, the company opened the video arcade Acty 24. It released its first arcade video game, Vulgus, in May 1984. Starting with the arcade game 1942 in 1984, Capcom began creating games for international markets. The 1985 arcade games Commando and Ghosts 'n Goblins helped make Capcom famous in the mid-1980s. From 1985 onward, Capcom allowed its arcade games to be released on home computers, especially through companies in Britain and the United States.

Capcom began making home console games in 1985 with a version of 1942 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This led to home console games becoming the company's main business. In the late 1980s, Capcom had a short period where it published games for computers like the Commodore 64 and IBM PC DOS, but other companies handled the development of these games. Capcom created popular home video game series, such as Resident Evil in 1996, and its most successful game is the fighting game Street Fighter II (1991), which became famous in arcades.

In the late 1980s, Capcom was nearly bankrupt until it released a Mahjong game called Mahjong Gakuen. This game sold better than Ghouls 'n Ghosts, one of the top-selling arcade games in Japan in 1989, and helped save the company from financial trouble.

Capcom was known for continuing to make 2D games longer than most other companies, but this was not always by choice. The company focused on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which made it slower to develop 3D games. However, the 2D cartoon-style graphics in games like Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors and X-Men: Children of the Atom were popular, so Capcom used this style in future games.

In 1990, Capcom entered the bowling industry with Bowlingo, a small, automated mini-bowling machine designed for arcades. It was smaller and cheaper than a standard bowling alley and became very successful in North America.

In 1994, Capcom made a movie based on its Street Fighter series. The movie was popular but not well received by critics. A 2002 movie based on Resident Evil had similar issues but was also successful in theaters. Capcom sees movies as a way to promote its video games.

In the early 2000s, Capcom focused on updating older games to newer hardware, moving them from 2D to 3D. One of the most successful games during this time was Resident Evil 4 for the GameCube (2005), which was widely praised and financially successful. Other major successes included Street Fighter IV (2008).

Capcom denied rumors that it was leaving the arcade business in 2001. While it continued to operate in Japan, it gradually stopped working in the United States by 2003 and closed its arcade subsidiary in March 2004.

During the 2010s, Capcom released several games that were not well received. Resident Evil 5 (2009) and Resident Evil 6 (2012) were criticized for focusing too much on action and not enough on survival horror. Street Fighter V (2016) had little single-player content and poor online features, failing to meet its sales goals. The next Devil May Cry game was made by another company, resulting in DmC: Devil May Cry (2013), which did not connect well with players. Other newer games, like Lost Planet and Asura's Wrath, also struggled to attract audiences. However, Dragon's Dogma (2012) was one of the few successful games from this period.

In 2011, Capcom partnered with Nyu Media to publish Japanese independent games translated into English. The company also works with QLOC to port its games to other platforms, such as the PC versions of DmC: Devil May Cry and Dragon's Dogma.

In 2012, Capcom faced criticism for selling games with extra content that required additional payments, such as in Street Fighter X Tekken. The company defended this practice. It was also criticized for not releasing some games outside Japan, like the Sengoku Basara series, and for canceling projects like Mega Man Legends 3 and shutting down Clover Studio.

On August 27, 2014, Capcom sued Koei Tecmo Games in Japan for 980 million yen, claiming that Koei Tecmo violated a patent related to video game features.

In 2015, the PlayStation 4 version of Ultra Street Fighter IV was removed from the Capcom Pro Tour due to technical problems.

After years of unclear direction, Capcom changed its leadership in the mid-2010s to focus on its most successful games. The company realized that some of its games during this time tried to copy Western game ideas but failed to understand how those ideas worked. To improve, Capcom began working with its global studios to create games that would appeal to players worldwide. It also started using the RE Engine to replace older tools, helping its studios develop games for a wider range of hardware.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017) was the first game Capcom released under this new approach. Critics praised it for its improvements.

Corporate structure

In the early years of Capcom's Japan branch, there were three development groups called "Planning Rooms," each led by Tokuro Fujiwara, Takashi Nishiyama, and Yoshiki Okamoto. In 1988, Capcom reorganized into two groups: one focused on arcade games, and the other on console games. These groups were led by Okamoto and Fujiwara, respectively. Later, games created internally were made by several numbered "Production Studios," each assigned to different projects. Starting in 2002, Capcom changed its development process to share technology and expertise more effectively. Over time, the individual studios were restructured into larger departments responsible for specific tasks. While there are separate departments for arcade, pachinko, pachislot, online, and mobile games, the Consumer Games R&D Division combines smaller teams that handle different stages of game development.

Capcom has two internal Consumer Games Development divisions:

• Division 1, led by Jun Takeuchi, creates games such as Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Dead Rising, Dragon's Dogma, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Ōkami, and other major franchises, which are usually aimed at global audiences.
• Division 2, led by Ryozo Tsujimoto, creates games such as Monster Hunter, Mega Man, Ace Attorney, Onimusha, and other franchises with traditional intellectual property, which are usually aimed at Asian audiences. This division also works on fighting game franchises like Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom.

In addition to these teams, Capcom hires outside studios to help create games. However, after the games Dark Void and Bionic Commando did not sell well, Capcom decided to limit outsourcing to sequels and new versions of existing franchises. Original games are now developed by in-house teams. Decisions about game production, budgets, and platform support are made during meetings attended by company management and departments such as marketing, sales, and quality control.

Although Capcom often uses existing franchises, it has also created and published games based on original intellectual property for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. These include Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Dead Rising, Dragon's Dogma, Asura's Wrath, and Zack and Wiki. During this time, Capcom also helped publish original games from Western developers, such as Remember Me, Dark Void, and Spyborgs, which other companies were unwilling to support. Other notable games include Ōkami, Ōkamiden, and Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective.

Capcom Co., Ltd.'s main office and research and development building are located in Chūō-ku, Osaka. The parent company also has a branch office in the Shinjuku Mitsui Building in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, and another branch office called the Ueno Facility in Iga, Mie Prefecture.

The international Capcom Group includes 12 subsidiaries in Japan, East Asia, North America, and Europe.

In addition to games for home consoles, online, mobile, arcade, pachinko, and pachislot, Capcom publishes strategy guides. It also operates Plaza Capcom arcade centers in Japan and licenses its characters and franchises for products, movies, television shows, and stage performances.

Suleputer, a marketing and music label created in 1998 with Sony Music Entertainment Intermedia, produces CDs, DVDs, and other media based on Capcom's games. Captivate, an annual event that used to be called Gamers Day, is held to announce new games and business updates.

Creations

Capcom's first arcade game system was the CP System, introduced in 1988 with the game Forgotten Worlds. Later, they created the CP System II and CP System III.

In 2019, Capcom launched the Capcom Home Arcade, which included 16 pre-installed games based on the CPS-1 and CPS-2 systems.

• MT Framework
• RE Engine

Game sales

Capcom began its Street Fighter series in 1987. These fighting games are among the most popular in their category. With over 50 million copies sold, the series is one of Capcom's most important franchises. The company also launched its Mega Man series in 1987, which has sold more than 40 million copies.

In 1996, Capcom released the first game in its Resident Evil survival horror series. This became its most successful series, with over 170 million copies sold. After the second game in the Resident Evil series, Capcom created a new game for PlayStation 2. Because this game was very different from the previous ones, Capcom made it into its own series called Devil May Cry. The first three games in this series were only available on PlayStation 2; later games were released on other consoles. The Devil May Cry series has sold over 30 million copies. Capcom started its Monster Hunter series in 2004, which has sold over 120 million copies across many consoles.

Capcom keeps a list called "Platinum Titles," updated every three months, of its games that have sold more than one million copies. This list includes over 100 video games. A table shows the top ten games by sales, as of December 31, 2025.