Capcom not making sequels to games making under 2 million

So stupid... Why would you do that if you are in financial trouble? Just an overall stupid move... Make good games and use the money smart. Don't just throw it around and hope to get it back...

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Not sure what you mean by stupid? it seems to be common sense not to release a product that you already have lost money on. I will grant though its also common sense to release products you have a very good idea will make cash, but today you can never tell after all a game like destiny has sold insane, Sims 4 has broken records even though both are not great games.

@Jacanuk: Destiny literally sold it's numbers due to close too $500million advertisement budget it had. Because almost non of that cash got used for making that game. But dumb move to throw away a profitable game if it makes you 2million it\s still 2 million you didn't have before.

They mean 2 million units in game sales.

But ya i know Destiny went viral and thats the crazy part because its not a good game at all. But it just goes to show that you can't really tell, games that a great sometimes fly under the radar like Sleeping Dogs which is far superior to GTA V , not in terms of Rockstars famous sense for details and size but in terms of story and gameplay elements. And games that are mediocre sells like icecream in a heatwave.

Destiny didn't have a 500 million budget, it's across 10 years. Don't know why people don't understand that.

The reason it's dumb is because you can make a profit even if it is less than 2 million

I dont follow you? i dont see how its dumb to say "hey we wont make games we have a pretty good idea wont sell enough to make us a profit" after all if the first game doesnt sell, its a good bet that a sequel wont either.

And sure you can make a profit with 2mill in sales but most bigger budget teams dont make indie games, they make AA or AAA games and here with the way budgets have gone up, its a good bet that they spend way more than what 2mill in sales can bring in.

I would really like them to do sequels for devil may cry(not the reboot) and Dragons Dogma.

No that's not what i meant. They are basicly saying the'yre only making big games even though they are having problems and lost money on Resident Evil 6. Why the hell wouldn't you go a little down in scale and try just making profits? Instead of just going big all the freaking time? It's stupid and bad business move

Exactamundo! if they're looking to reclaim their position then they have to come up with a better idea than collecting all the money they can. Of course, money is important. But in the end, it's the fans on whom your position depends. Especially when most of those 'fans' are just casuals who'll buy your game because it was looking cool. But in the end, the part of the 'fans' that actually complains will come forward and you'll be jinxed. It is those fans on whom your repute depends. If you don't try to retrieve your respect from them, then the same cycle will repeat; you'll get your money and seemingly be in a better position but after a few years you'll be down to your previous position again.

Ahh i get you

And ya i dont get either why they don't just make smaller games but i guess its hard because in the who knows if they would also sell 2mill

??

Not throwing good money after bad is exactly what you should do if you are in financial trouble.

The only thing that can save Capcom now is Capcom VS SNK 3, A new Rival school's game, and a new Dragon's Dogma game. I love capcom but they might not see another anniversary if they go down this lane.

goodbye DmC lol

The reason they are in this situation is because they have spent too much on a game, not selling to little. You can make a profit of a game that sells less than 2 millions...

I assume they're saying 2 million copies in a game's lifetime? It's really not that stupid when you consider their financial situation. Let's take a look at how much money they really make from developing a game and considering if it's really a viable option to continue the franchise. Currently, the average development cost for games range anywhere from $20-50 Million, depending on if it's a high-profile game or not. Let's just say that they spent $20 million on developing a new franchise and sold 1 million copies within the first several months. Developers only get about 15% of the total profits from each game sold, while the publisher receives about 30%. So if they publish the game themselves they will get 45%. So at 1 million copies for $60 a copy, they would make $9 million (or $27 million if they self-publish)... (then you subtract the development costs if they published the game themselves). And you are left with less than $10 million to develop its' sequel. Selling less than 2 million copies would just mean they would be making less than $20 million in total, which is how much it costs to develop a game. I didn't even factor in the games that are sold at a discounted price.

Is it really worth the risk if there isn't enough of a fanbase there to support it?

This is very much true. Especially for game series that are annual. If one year's game is not well received, the following year's edition well feel the financial pain.

@The_Last_Ride: They aren't making low budget indie titles. The type of games they make cost money and need to sell a lot to make that up. Besides, if they came out with some super low production values game they'd get raked through the coals by reviewers and fans and people would be saying Capcom is on the death bed and can't even make AAA titles anymore... in addition to there being no real proof that cheaply made games for a cheap price will reap huge profits for them.

So what happens if a game makes 1.9 million in profit ?

Sounds like a smart move to me.

They lost money on RE 6? I hadn't heard that. The game sold 5 million copies. It fell short of Capcom's own lofty sales projections but It couldn't have cost THAT much to make the game.

Also, on console the only games that sell are the big ones. There are so many gamers that only buy 5-6 games a year and those aren't indies.

What a dumb idea.....

They should re-evaluate the budget for each game before they jump the gun on sales expectations.... History has proven that they know nothing about the latter.

And for crying out loud add some freaking Multiplayer to Devil May Cry already !

Ni No Kuni sold a million and made a profit, that wasn't an indie title

You can still make quality games, earn a profit and sell only a million...

You keep telling yourself that as AAA game companies go under.

You're telling me there is no way to make money unless you are an AAA game? It is perfectly possible.

For quality games? no. Gamers won't let them make a profit of any anything that are low quality games.

What are you talking about? Games have profits all the time that aren't AAA games. Ni No Kuni, Grid, F1, Puppeteer, Transformers, Saints Row, etc

I put Ni No Kuni, Grid, F1, Transformers, and Saints Row with AAA games.

That kind of sucks although I can understand the logic behind it. I was so hoping for a new Darkstalkers game. I guess that won't be happening anytime soon.

@wiouds: Lol what?! Those games are NOT AAA games...

AAA game companies are going under because of the huge elephant in the room problem with the industry.. They are throwing too much fucking money at the development of games and due to them throwing such huge amounts of money they are not willing to take risks and are dumbing down franchises to appeal to every one.. All these companies are jumping on bandwagon money train schemes of mimicing the most popular games out there for the gravy train.. Which is OBVIOUSLY happening when these developers and publishers are having SUCH ABSURD expectations in sales.. This is fucking ruining the gaming industry.. AAA games use to be at the forefront of pushing ahead game innovation.. Now they are literally holding back the industry in rehashing the same shit over again, or basically copying the big sellers out there..

The best series out there started as unknown titles that were lucky to sell a few million.. Capcom's decision on this is basically the symptom to the cancer that is eating away the industry at large: too much money.. Too high of expectation, hilariously unrealistic expectations of growth.. This is why the Indie industry is becoming so popular.. Money has not corrupted it.. Small developers with realistic goals and expectations are setting out to create their own unique brand of game for a niche crowd in having a controlled projection of growth.. The AAA industry is going to crash, mark my words.. Budgets are getting too high that executives and shareholders do not want risk anything except for the surest bets.. The industry has been taken over by people who are not familiar with game development but care about numbers.. That is why they look at games like WoW, CoD, and numerous other extremely popular titles and attempt to copy them in every way.. Destiny is basically a posterchild to what is wrong with the industry at large.

Sure they are. They are not super stars but they are not AA games

@sSubZerOo:The budget goes up because the expectation of the gamers goes up. Also, gamers refuse to pay more for the games means they need to sell more games or extra to make the same amount of profits.

There is no logic about it, people seem not to under basic economics.. Just don't invest the metric fuckton of money they usually do for their big games.. Problem solved! A 2 million seller game still nets a profit! People seem to forget the golden years of gaming in which a 2 million seller was seen as a massive success.. And devs actually seemed like they wanted to take risks with trying out new and radical ideas from 1997 through 2002.. Instead Capcom basically is saying that they are going to milk the shit out of their cash cows which will reach a saturation effect in which people are sick of it, or it becomes too dumbed down.. Thus leading to a huge crash..

Isn't that what every publisher does? Set sales targets and shut down projects that don't meet them? From a business standpoint it makes ense. From an artistic standpoint, of course not. Then again, that's partially our fault.

@wiouds: The budget for any of those games are anything near compared to COD, Destiny, FIFA, Madden, Watch Dogs, Diablo, etc. They are indeed AA games...

@sSubZerOo: Hell look at Tomb Raider, sold like 5 million, that wasn't enough...

@Black_Knight_00

Actually even from a Business stand point, its not practical. But they're going to keep doing it anyway.

Nintendo, please buy Capcom. Please

It is, but if you have a decent game and have a good budget for it, you could make lots of money of a game that sells only 1 million

Yes, but companies don't invest to break even, they do it for profit. Unprofitable investments mean slim earnings, which in turn mean a drop in stock prices.1 million sales can work for a cheaply produced downloadable game, but any large production will need more to turn a profit.

It's sad, but that's how industry works.

Ni No Kuni managed to do it and earned a lot of money. It's not impossible

The big contender for GOTY, Divinity: Original Sin, was done with a 1 million dollar kickstarter.. It has more content then games that have cost 50 times more.. It's not the fact that games are not selling, its the fact that these publishers and devs are spending too much fucking money for rehashed games and games with minimal content.. Case and point: Destiny.. Then we have games like Hearthstone which have exploded in popularity and was done by a small side team with a small budget.. Money is ruining this industry, executives and shareholders do not care about sustainable growth.. They are looking for that gold mine in which they make a killing regardless if it is sustainable or not.. When you hear "analysts" selling doom and gloom when CoD may sell a few million less than the last installment, selling a "mere" 18 million copies.. That's when you know the industry is fucking in trouble.. Mark my words we are going to see a crash of the AAA industry, in which the consumer is going to get sick of the same old rehashed and streamlined crap because devs no longer want to take risks, because too much money is involved now.. These games are getting exponentially more expensive yet are not providing exponentially more content or gameplay improvements.. In fact we have been seeing genres take several steps back in numerous areas..

Maybe if Capcom took the fucking hint that they shouldn't have spent a massive fortune in milking franchises like Resident Evil in turning the franchise into a mediocre action game.. They wouldn't be in the position they are right now..

That's what happens when a company gets so big is they need to start finding a way to pay more and more employees, and they need to do this while competition is increasing quite rapidly all around them.

I'm willing to bet most every AAA studio thinks this same way.

The comparisons people in this thread are drawing up, and the suggestions for what Capcom should do, are lolworthy at best.

The fact of the matter is their expectations and growth is unsustainable hence why were are seeing companies like Capcom are crashing..

I remember they had 600 People working on President Evil 6...... I remember them talking about it as if it was something to be proud of..... What a bunch of Morons lol.

www.gamespot.com/articles/resident-evil-6-boasts-600-developers/1100-6349247/

I remember they had 600 People working on President Evil 6...... I remember them talking about it as if it was something to be proud of..... What a bunch of Morons lol.

www.gamespot.com/articles/resident-evil-6-boasts-600-developers/1100-6349247/

Have you seen the Falling Skies game? That is a AA game.

Lords of Fallen, Bound By Flame, Saints Row, hell even WWE 2k was an AA game for years mate

I find that Saints Row 2+ is too good to be called a AA games. Then what would you call the Falling Skies game?

DMC was so close to hitting 2Mill. Please reconsider. :(

While the 2 mil threshold isn't a bad one, considering that all budgets Capcom is throwing out there require sales of over 2 mil, I would still like to see Capcom make more smaller games. I would also like to see Capcom somehow realize that people will pay money for a Mega Man game.