It looks like Capcom has become the latest company to jump onboard the growing mobile gaming trend, announcing on its investor relations website that it has established a "Mobile Business Division" in order to produce hit titles both domestically and abroad by utilizing its popular IP.
Citing a booming mobile gaming market, Capcom argued that a push into mobile gaming by integrating Capcom-owned Beeline Interactive, renamed Capcom Mobile, and Capcom brands into the Mobile Business Division is precisely what the company needs to further its growth.
"With international economic growth and the explosive spread of smartphones as a backdrop, the mobile games market is expected to rapidly grow from $27.5 billion in 2015 to $37.4 billion in 2019 globally," the gaming giant said.
"Mobile content is a driver of growth in the game market as well as an important factor in Capcom's growth strategy," the post continues. "Under these circumstances, Capcom [has] established its Mobile Business Division in order to grow its business in-step with the market and continue offering exciting content."
Furthermore, Capcom plans to "strengthen licensed content in Asia in accordance with their new mobile strategy," with the overview described thus far as, "development and distribution of smartphone content for the Japanese and Asian markets." This statement alone makes it somewhat unclear if these will ever reach the West, but a prior statement in which the company said that it "aims to produce hit titles both domestically and abroad" indicates that it should.
With that in mind, when can we expect to see any products from this "Mobile Business Division?" Capcom says that it plans to release four titles based on "Monster Hunter," "Mega Man" and "Sengoku Basara" by March 31, 2017.
This will be newer territory for "Sengoku Basara," but it will be familiar water for "Monster Hunter" and "Mega Man," where the former has seen its existing games adapted, while the latter has had its classic entries re-released for mobile devices. However, it should noted that these titles won't just be re-releases of older titles and will be completely new.
In related news, a new company called ForwardWorks Corporation will open its doors today. Sony is its parent company, and much like Capcom's mobile business division, it will focus on making games for mobile devices.
