There’s been a flurry of acquisitions in the games industry in recent years, with the likes of Microsoft, Sony, Embracer Group, EA, Take-Two Interactive, and many others having made large-scale acquisitions to expand their internal development capabilities. One company that doesn’t want to get involved in that arms race, however, is Capcom.
Speaking in a recent interview with Bloomberg, when asked what Capcom’s stance is on mergers and acquisitions, Capcom’s chief operating officer Haruhito Tsujimoto said that the company isn’t interested in acquiring external studios, and instead prefers to foster internal talent, maintain continuity, and encourage organic growth.
“I think there have been many merger and acquisition talks in the game industry,” Tsujimoto said (transcription via VGC). “There was once a time we were a target, but rather than acquiring an outside company, we prefer organic growth.
“It is important to train and develop human resources in-house in order to carry out growth strategies. I also believe we can utilise external partners, but we have no intention of acquiring companies.”
Meanwhile, the Japanese publisher is equally uninterested in being purchased by another company, When asked what Capcom’s response would be if, hypothetically, a company like Microsoft made an offer to acquire it, Tsujimoto said he would “gracefully decline”.
“I would gracefully decline the offer, because I believe it would be better if we were equal partners.”
Capcom has been enjoying a golden period that’s stretched on for several years, and looking at the healthy state of its active franchises and its slate of upcoming releases, it’s hard to imagine that changing anytime soon. The previous fiscal year saw the company selling more software than it ever had in any previous fiscal year, while earlier this year, following Resident Evil 4’s launch, its share price climbed to an all-time high of 4,865 yen.
In February 2022, it was announced that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund had acquired a minority stake of over 5% in Capcom.
