
Capcom is a leading third-party game developer based in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. Kenzo Tsujimoto founded Capcom in 1979 as a publisher of electronic games. In 1984, Capcom (originally the name Capcom was a contracted form of its official name at the time, Japan Capsule Computers) released its first Arcade Game, a scrolling shooter entitled Vulgus. They would go on to make several more shooters like that, including the famed 1940 series, before hitting it big with games like Mega Man and Street Fighter II.
Capcom also briefly entered the arcade Pinball industry in the mid-ninties, hiring Mark Ritchie from Williams Electronics to be their Director of Engineering. Williams sued, claiming Ritchie violated his contract's non-competition clause; the case was rendered moot when Capcom closed its pinball division in 1996.
Several Capcom alumni would later go on to launch their own careers in the industry. Keiji Inafune founded Level-5 Comcept shortly after his departure from the company in 2010. Hideki Kamiya, Shinji Mikami, Atsushi Inaba and Tatsuya Minami co-founded PlatinumGames in 2007.
Likes to challenge other companies to Fighting Game crossover showdowns.
Trope Namers of Capcom Sequel Stagnation.
Games and franchises started by Capcom:
- 1940 series
- Ace Attorney
- Armored Warriors
- Asura's Wrath
- Avengers (also known as Avenger and Hissatsu Buraiken)
- Battle Arena Toshinden (Only for Toshinden 2 via arcade)
- Battle Circuit
- Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance (co-owned by Cavia)
- Black Black
- Black Command
- Black Tiger
- Block Block
- Bounty Hunter Sara and its sequel Critical Bullet: 7th Target
- Breath of Fire
- Breath of Fire (licensed by Squaresoft outside of Japan)
- Breath of Fire II
- Breath of Fire III
- Breath of Fire IV
- Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
- Capcom Online Games
- Ixion Saga
- Minna to (a series of social card battle games)
- Captain Commando
- Cannon Spike (developed by Psikyo)
- Capcom Fighting Evolution
- Carrier Airwing (Spiritual Successor of U.N. Squadron)
- Clock Tower note
- Code Name: Viper
- Commando
- Mercs note
- Bionic Commando
- Crimson Tears (co-owned by Spike)
- CROSS×BEATS
- Cyberbots
- Dark Void
- Darkstalkers
- Dead Rising
- Deep Down
- Devil May Cry series
- Dino Crisis
- Dragon's Dogma
- Eco Fighters
- El Dorado Gate
- Exed Exes
- Final Fight
- Finder Love
- Flock!
- Forgotten Worlds
- Fox Hunt
- Full House Kiss (co-owned by Shiori Yuwa and Hakusensha)
- Fushigi Deka
- Gaia Master
- Gaist Crusher
- Ghosts 'n Goblins
- Ghost Trick
- Giga Wing
- Glass Rose (co-owned by Cing)
- God Hand
- Gotcha Force
- Granbo
- Gun.Smoke
- Haunting Ground
- Hyper Dyne Side Arms
- Kabu Trader Shun
- Kamen No Ninja Hanamaru note
- Killer7 (co-owned by Grasshopper Manufacture; 2018 PC re-release published by Nippon Ichi instead)
- The King of Dragons
- Knights of the Round
- Last Duel
- Last Ranker
- Legendary Wings
- Lost Planet
- Magic Sword: Heroic Fantasy
- Mahjong
- Ide no Yosuke no Jissen Mahjong
- Jyangokushi: Haoh no Saihai
- Mars Matrix
- Mega Man
- Mega Twins
- Metal Walker
- Monster Hunter
- Narikiri Jockey Game - Yuushun Rhapsody
- Nazo Waku Yakata
- Ninja Arms
- Ōkami
- Onimusha series
- Pirate Ship Higemaru
- P.N.03
- Power Quest (published in North America by Sunsoft)
- Power Stone
- Pragmata
- Pro Yakyuu? Satsujin Jiken!
- Progear
- Quiz games
- Adventure Quiz
- Quiz & Dragons: Capcom Quiz Game
- Quiz Nanairo Dreams
- Quiz San Goku Shi
- Quiz Tonosama no Yabou
- Racing games
- Auto Modellista
- F-1 Dream
- LED Storm
- Red Earth
- Resident Evil series
- Resident Evil
- Resident Evil 2
- Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
- Resident Evil Code: Veronica
- Resident Evil 0
- Resident Evil 4
- Resident Evil 5
- Resident Evil: Revelations
- Resident Evil 6
- Resident Evil: Revelations 2
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
- Resident Evil 2 (Remake)
- Resident Evil 3 (Remake)
- Resident Evil: Village
- Rival Schools
- Samurai Sword
- Saturday Night Slam Masters
- Section Z
- Sengoku Basara
- Shadow of Rome
- Shinsekai: Into the Depths
- Silpheed The Lost Planet
- SonSon
- The Speed Rumbler
- Sports games
- Capcom Baseball - Suketto Gaijin Oo-Abare
- Capcom Bowling
- Capcom Golf
- Capcom's MVP Football
- Capcom's Soccer Shootout
- Capcom Sports Club
- Net de Tennis
- Pro Cast Sports Fishing Game
- We Love Golf!
- Star Gladiator
- Startling Adventures: Kuusou Daibouken X 3
- Steel Battalion
- Steel Fang (co-owned by Sega and Nextech)
- Street Fighter
- Street Fighter 2010
- Street Fighter Online: Mouse Generation
- Strider (co-owned by Moto Kikaku)
- Strider (Arcade) (Strider (1989) and Strider 2)
- Strider (NES Game)
- Strider Returns
- Strider (2014)
- Super Gem Fighter
- Tech Romancer
- TEPPEN
- Three Wonders
- Tiger Road
- Toraware No Palm
- Trick'N Snowboarder
- Trojan
- Under the Skin
- Varth: Operation Thunderstorm
- Viewtiful Joe
- Vulgus
- Wantame Music Channel: Doko Demo Style
- Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
Western Developed
- Dragon's Lair (ported the game to Game Boy Color and Gamecube in the 2000s)
- Remember Me
- Spyborgs
- Without Warning
Licensed games developed by Capcom:
- Alien vs. Predator
- The Anime Super Remix games
- Ashita no Joe
- Kyojin no Hoshi
- Ashita Tenki ni Nare!
- Bombastic (released outside Japan for PS2; sublicensed to Sony Computer Entertainment; serves as the sequel to Devil Dice for PlayStation)
- Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
- Capcom's Gold Medal Challenge '92
- Capcom vs.
- Chaos Legion (based off an obscure novel by Tow Ubukata)
- Dai Koushien and Dokaben
- Disney
- Adventures In The Magic Kingdom
- Aladdin (the SNES/Game Boy Advance game)
- Bonkers
- Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
- Darkwing Duck
- Disney Golf
- Disney's Hide and Sneak
- Disney's Magical Quest
- Mickey's Dangerous Chase
- DuckTales
- Goof Troop
- The Little Mermaid
- Magical Tetris Challenge (doubles as a Tetris licensed game)
- Mickey's Dangerous Chase
- The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge
- TaleSpin
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (the Game Boy game)
- Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
- Eye of the Beholder (the Super Nintendo Entertainment System port)
- Fate/unlimited codes
- Gakkou no Kowai Uwasa: Hanako-san ga Kita!!
- G.I. Joe (the second NES game, which they picked up from developer KID after Taxan got out of video game publishing)
- Gregory Horror Show
- Group S Challenge
- Gundam Vs Series (Up to Gundam VS Gundam NEXT PLUS, Bandai Namco would continue developing the series starting with Gundam Extreme VS onward)
- Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
- Heavy Metal: Geomatrix
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
- JoJo's Venture
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future
- Le Bizzarre Avventure di GioGio: Vento Aureo
- The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages (collaboration with Nintendo)
- Little Nemo: The Dream Master
- Marusa no Onna (AKA A Taxing Woman)
- Marvel Universe
- MotoGP '07, '08, 09/10, and 10/11
- Neopets Puzzle Adventure
- One Piece Mansion
- Pocket Rockets
- Pride GP Grand Prix 2003
- Rocketmen: Axis of Evil and It Came From Uranus
- Rosario + Vampire (for the Nintendo DS)
- Sheep
- Slipstream
- Spawn: In the Demon's Hand
- Sweet Home
- Tenchi o Kurau (a series of games based on a manga by Hiroshi Motomiya)
- Dynasty Wars
- Warriors of Fate
- Destiny of an Emperor
- Tenchi o Kurau II (Japan-only sequel to the above)
- U.N. Squadron (Area 88)
- Warauinu no Bouken GB: Silly Go Lucky!
- Willow (both the arcade game and the NES game, which are very different from each other)
- Yo! Noid (actually a Dolled Up Installment of Kamen No Ninja Hanamaru)
Capcom games that were cancelled:
- Capcom Fighting All Stars: Code Holder
- Dead Phoenix
- Final Fight: Seven Sons
- Galum Pa!
- Ghosts N Goblins series
- Ghosts N Goblins Online Zero (A 2003 MMORPG meant for PC and Xbox)
- Ghosts N Goblins Match Fight
- Maximo 3
- The Magical Ninjya Jiraiya Kenzan!
- Major Damage
- Mega Man series
- Mega Man Anniversary Collection (Game Boy Advance)
- Mega Man Legends 3
- Mega Man Universe
- Rockman Online
- Maverick Hunter (2010 FPS)note
- Red Dead Revolver note
- Resident Evil (Game Boy Color)
- Sammy vs. Capcom (it was supposedly going to feature characters from Guilty Gear and Darkstalkers)
- Strider (unnamed 2009 remake/reboot developed by GRIN)
- Talisman (a game licensed by Games Workshopnote )
- Titan Warriors (a sequel to Vulgus. It was originally named Neo Vulgus)
- War of the Grail
- Werewolf: The Apocalypse (a game licensed by White Wolf Publishing)
Pinball Games developed by Capcom:
- Airborne
- Big Bang Bar (unreleased)
- Breakshot
- Flipper Football
- Kingpin (unreleased)
- Pinball Magic
Outside games and franchises published by Capcom in a set region:
Japan:
- Donald in Maui Mallardnote
- God of War series
- Grand Theft Auto series
- Grand Theft Auto III
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
- Grand Theft Auto IV (except The Ballad of Gay Tony and Episodes from Liberty City expansion packs, released by Rockstar Games' Japanese branch in a complete edition)
- Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy
- Red Dead Revolver
- Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
- Tomb Raider Chronicles
- The Getaway
- True Crime: Streets of L.A.
North America:
- Cherry Tree High Comedy Club
- Mickey Mousecapade
- Shantae (the series' first game, a Game Boy Color release)
- Way Of The Samurai 2
Europe:
Worldwide:
- Gunbird 2note
Other media produced or licensed by Capcom:
Anime
- Ace Attorney
- Darkstalkers
- Devil May Cry: The Animated Series
- Gaist Crusher
- Mega Man
- Mega Man: Upon a Star
- MegaMan NT Warrior
- Mega Man Star Force (2006 anime)
- Power Stone
- Sengoku Basara
- Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings
- Sengoku Basara: End of Judgement
- Seven Star Fighting God Guyferd (co-owned by Toho, the only Toku Capcom made)
- Street Fighter II V
- Viewtiful Joe (2004 anime)
Comic Books & Manga
- Mega Man
- Novas Aventuras De Megaman
- Mega Man Megamix
- Dreamwave's Mega Man
- Mega Man (comic series by Archie)
- Sonic the Hedgehog/Mega Man: Worlds Unite (crossover between Archie's Mega Man and Sonic comics)
- Sonic the Hedgehog/Mega Man: Worlds Collide
- Street Fighter
- Malibu Comics' Street Fighter (comic series by Malibu)
- Street Fighter (comic series by UDON)
- Street Fighter vs. Darkstalkers (crossover comic by UDON)
- Street Fighter II: The Manga
- Super Street Fighter II Cammy
- Street Fighter Alpha
- Street Fighter Sakura Ganbaru
- Street Fighter III Ryu Final
- Strider (co-owned by Moto Kikaku, as part of a 3-way project between them and Capcom)
Films, live action and animated
- Dead Rising
- Dead Rising: Watchtower
- Dead Rising: Endgame (sequel to the above)
- Zombrex: Dead Rising Sun
- Resident Evil (Live action film series featuring Milla Jovovich)
- Resident Evil (CGI film trilogy)
- Street Fighter
Western Animation
- Darkstalkers
- Mega Man
- Street Fighter
Tropes associated with Capcom:
- Batman Gambit: Capcom managed to pull this off on Sony in the late 90's. To clarify, Capcom wanted Mega Man 8 on the PlayStation. However Sony declined due to 3D games gaining prominence. Capcom then decided "Well, I guess you don't want Resident Evil 2 then". Yes, Capcom pulled a gambit by refusing the eventual popular sequel title on the PlayStation just to allow 2D games in, by allowing them in.
- Capcom Sequel Stagnation: Trope Maker and Trope Namer. Commonly seen in the Street Fighter franchise.
- Cash Cow Franchise: Capcom has two of them: Street Fighter and Resident Evil. Monster Hunter too has established itself as a huge moneymaker, although this is mostly limited to Japan. In the past, Mega Man used to be this, but in recent years, a steady decline in sales for this series made Capcom cancel several of its entries and put it on the backburner.
- Creator Backlash:
- Many people that have been fired, have at one point collaborated or quit from the studio, like PlatinumGames (formerly Capcom's Clover Studios), Suda51, and Keiji Inafune have come to despise a lot of Capcom's policies. A lot of them were especially upset when Mega Man Legends 3 was cancelled, to the point where CyberConnect2 wants to take over said project.
- Averted however, with PlatinumGames founder Hideki Kamiya, who despite issues with Capcom back when he was there, has gone on record saying that he would love the opportunity to work with Capcom again, with him considering it his old home and having a lot of respect for the company.
- Creator Killer: Python Anghelo's rumored Zingy Bingy project (which never made it past the prototype stage) was this for Capcom's pinball division. According to Mark Ritchie, and composer Bryan Hansen, Zingy Bingy was a pornographic-themed pinball game.
- Creator Thumbprint: Fans like to joke about the "Capcom Asexual." It's extremely rare for Capcom's major characters to have any kind of romantic relationships, and of those who do (Ken, Guile, Barry Burton), their significant others tend to be conveniently offscreen most of the time.
- Cut Short: The Minna to Mobile Phone Game series was discontinued online.
- Demoted to Extra: A number of their former flagship series have seen very few releases in recent years, the most apparent of these being the Mega Man, Breath of Fire and Ghosts 'n Goblins franchises. They've gone from console games, to handheld games, to downloadable titles, to, in the case of Mega Man, freeware and mobile titles.
- Iconic Item:
- The Yashichi
, a shuriken or pinwheel-like object that has seen itself in many of the company's games. Originally an enemy, it could also be an Easter Egg that may benefit the player in other games.
- Capcom has used several other items as well during their Arcade days in this form, including the Holstein (a small white cow), a bamboo sprout (from SonSon) and Mobi-chan (the 1P character's chibi/1UP form from Side Arms).
- The Yashichi
- Iconic Logo: Capcom's logo uses ITC Korinna, the same font used for Jeopardy!'s clues during the Alex Trebek era.
- Mascot:
- Rule of Cool: Capcom can make compelling stories when they want to, but in many cases, they put storytelling in a lower priority compared to the cool factor or how much they can make a compelling, fun gameplay first.
- Their crossover games tend to have VERY minimum storytelling or at least pretty basic ones. The Capcom vs. series is a great example of this, with very minimum plot, but the sight of crossover between Capcom characters and other companies are already a crowd-pleaser that Capcom was aiming for.
- Games Japanese history/mythology backgrounds like Onimusha, Sengoku Basara or Ōkami tend to have historical/mystical accuracy or nuances glossed off or not touched that deeply as long as Capcom can make super cool design or concept out of it, making them more like an Alternate Universe Fantasy Japan where things go off the rail for the sake of cool. So don't worry too much on how they give out Historical Villain Upgrade to the point of Saturday morning cartoon villainy as long as you get to control the Ink-Suit Actor of some famous actors to kick ass, or how a certain general in Sengoku Period looks like a frickin' Gundam as long as you can kick ass with it, or how in Japanese mythology, the big bad Serpent is kicked out by a dog with godly paint brush as long as you're the one doing it and feeling awesome while you do so.
- Shared Universe:
- Many of Capcom's in-house titles are implied through cameos and crossovers to be in one centered around Street Fighter.
- Final Fight is outright confirmed to be this through a number of playable character and stage appearances across the Street Fighter series. In fact the first Final Fight was supposed to be called Street Fighter '89, which would leave no question what universe it was in, but had its title changed due to the dev team catching on late to how differently it played than previous SF games.
- Captain Commando is set in a future version of the same city as Final Fight, cofirming its place in the 'verse by proxy.note
- Saturday Night Slam Masters was first tied through its Final Fight connection and a number of minor Street Fighter cameos. Its characters has since been referenced in the backstory of the Street Fighter series, most recently the appearance of the "Capcom Wrestling Association" during "A Shadow Falls".
- Rival Schools and Street Fighter's fighting schoolgirl were first confirmed part of the same universe in a Tweet from director Takayuki Nakayama, and later firmly established by character cameos and the inclusion of Akira as one of the Season 5 characters in Street Fighter V.
- Mega Man would have to be in the future in order to work, but the Signature Move of Street Fighter is hidden as an Easter Egg that can be used by the Player Character in a lot of the games.note
- Two.P (one of the Mooks from Final Fight) was designed after the 2P Unknown Soldier from Forgotten Worlds, but his Street Fighter V website profile heavily implies they are the same character, who somehow ended up at the side of some road, shirtlessnote and with no memories of his past.
- Making his return since Street Fighter Alpha 2, Guy's master Zeku appears in Street Fighter V. He is an elderly ninja that can shift his age at will. In his younger form, his garb resembles that of Strider Hiryu. This and several other nods and references indicate Zeku will have a hand in the creation of the Strider organization Hiryu will be a part of in the distant future.
- In an unrelated universe, Ace Attorney and Ghost Trick take place in the same universe.
- Resident Evil and Dino Crisis takes place in the same world.
- Several games are tied together by the Red Arremer Clan from Ghosts 'n Goblins, including its Spin-Off Gargoyle's Quest, the platform Arcade game Black Tiger (which in itself is connected through one boss character to The King of Dragons) and the NES/MSX Zelda-style Higemaru Makaijima, this one including a whole island of enemies from the first game, Arthur in a cameo appearance to warn Momotaru and a Red Arremer as the Big Bad!
- Many of Capcom's in-house titles are implied through cameos and crossovers to be in one centered around Street Fighter.
- Short-Runners: The Pinball division.
- Thanking the Viewer: The majority of their games has them thanking the player for playing the game after the credits are done.