Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the games we love that we forget that there are companies behind them, teams of people that have to sit in board meetings and quote figures and projections for the next fiscal year. I mean, who is really thinking about profit and loss margins when playing Crash Bandicoot or Mystical Ninja starring Goemon? I’m too busy thinking about how Crash never gets Dizzy and what that whole ‘PALASSSUMAA’ character is talking about and why Goemon isn’t scared of them.
Still, these meetings happen all the same, and it’s a good job that someone’s taking care of the financials while we sit at home eating crisps and playing the titles these companies produce. In one such meeting, the ‘Capcom 45th Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders’ to be precise, an exciting tidbit of information came out during a question and answer period.
The initial snippet of information that brought me to the transcript of this meeting was the fact that Capcom has made it incredibly clear that they have no plans to end the rollout of physical media. It’s something that many people have been worrying might happen over the next few years, especially when it comes to the likes of Microsoft with the Xbox. Although rumours were flying around that Phill Spencer wanted to do away with physical media entirely, he denied this in a conversation with Game File saying that Xbox was ‘supportive of physical media, but we don’t have a need to drive that disproportionate to customer demand.’
So, it makes sense that Capcom has made its stance firm on this, and we’re happy to see that the makers of some of our favourite retro games are sticking with physical media for the foreseeable future. And when it comes to our favourite retro Capcom games, Mega Man jumps straight to the top of the list. The desire for new Mega Man content in all of its forms has hit fever pitch; you can stick your head out of the window and practically feel the excitement radiating from fans around the globe, and it seems that Capcom is taking note of that.
Capcom Considers New Strategies
In the summary of shareholder comments prior to the meeting, the question was asked ‘Please tell me what plans you have for the Mega Man series’. Capcom stated that Mega Man was one of their ‘highly valued IPs’ and that they are ‘considering how to create games for it on an ongoing basis’. So, an ongoing basis sounds to me like they’re looking at how to create regular release schedules for new Mega Man games, that they know what the community wants and they’re thinking about how to fulfil that need.
But it’s not just games that Capcom is looking to use its IPs for. The summary goes on to say that they are ‘strategically investing in movies and television shows as a source of long-term growth’, and that ‘self-producing projects will be necessary in order for our Media business to be profitable’. Reading between the lines, does that mean we might be getting a Mega Man movie too?
It’s certainly interesting to think about what could be coming from Capcom HQ over the coming years and months if their plan is to start pushing Mega Man again, and you can rest assured that I’ll be there to pass on the facts (and figures if I pay more attention to these meetings) as events unfold.
