Capcom: We Won’t Make A Sequel To A Game Unless It Sells Over 2 Million

Yoshinori Ono, of Street Fighter fame, has given us a look into Capcom’s mind, and explained to Famitsu (translated by VG247) exactly how it is the company decides which of its brands to leverage, and which to let rest. This news should come as illuminating to those fans who have wanted a new Rival Schools/Onimusha/Okami/Dino Crisis/Viewtiful Joe/Mega-Man/Breath of Fire/any of the vast number of dead Capcom IPs that the company refuses to iterate on.

“At the end of the day, there are just some brick walls that a salaryman can never overcome *laughs*. For instance, if a game doesn’t sell over 2 million copies, then we’d have to put the brakes on any plans for a sequel.

“All that means is that we weren’t capable enough. And all we can do after that is to reflect on the experience, take what we can learn from it, and try to apply those lessons on some other title.”

Of course, this explanation does not seem to hold water- why, then, for example, does the company continue to make new Devil May Cry games? Why does it make new Ace Attorney games? And does this mean, then, that some of Capcom’s newer but pretty well loved nonetheless, franchises like Dead Rising, Lost Planet, and Dragon’s Dogma, are all dead?