Highlights
Declining any acquisition proposal from Microsoft, Capcom's Chief Operating Officer, Haruhiro Tsujimoto, emphasized the importance of maintaining an equal partnership between the two companies.
Tsujimoto holds the belief that Capcom can thrive in the gaming industry through organic growth and cultivating their own talent, in contrast to Microsoft's approach of acquiring companies to bolster their content collection and market reach. Due to Capcom's strong momentum and dedication to expanding in the mobile gaming market, it's expected that they would decline any buyout offers, even in light of Microsoft's impending acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Capcom has made it clear that it would not consider being acquired by Microsoft, even if the Xbox maker were to make such a tempting proposal. This discussion arose as the Japanese gaming giant strives to maintain its unprecedented momentum, which recently resulted in its most successful year to date.
Having secured preliminary approval from the CMA for its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft is on the brink of completing the largest deal in the history of the gaming industry. As this blockbuster purchase nears its conclusion, some industry observers are wondering if Microsoft's shopping spree will continue at the same pace in the coming months.
However, even if Capcom doesn't agree, it would be pointless to target them because their Chief Operating Officer, Haruhiro Tsujimoto, has made it clear that he would gracefully decline any acquisition proposal from Microsoft. Tsujimoto believes that the two companies would be better off as equal partners, as he explained in a recent interview with Bloomberg. Rather than looking for acquisitions, Tsujimoto believes that Capcom should focus on organic growth and developing talent in-house in order to remain competitive. This approach differs from Microsoft's gaming strategy, which emphasizes acquisitions to quickly expand their content library and market reach.
Given Capcom's current success and momentum, it's not surprising that they are unwilling to consider buyout offers. It's worth noting that Activision Blizzard also agreed to Microsoft's acquisition proposal after experiencing their best year ever, but that deal was made when Activision Blizzard already had a strong presence across all gaming platforms.
Capcom is now focusing on expanding its presence in the mobile gaming industry. Recently, they confirmed that the last two mainline Resident Evil games will be available on iOS devices by late 2023. The CEO, Tsujimoto, believes that these AAA mobile experiences will contribute to achieving the company's goal of 100 million sales in the current fiscal year, which began on April 1. It is worth noting that Capcom had previously wanted to bring their high-budget games to mobile earlier, but their in-house technology did not support this ambition until recently. Similarly, Larian Studios, the developer of Baldur's Gate 3, also made it clear that they were not open to any acquisition discussions with Microsoft or any other potential buyer. The CEO expressed his appreciation for the speculation but reiterated that selling the studio is not on their agenda.
