Capcom has announced changes to its mobile operations in the form of a new business division focused on those titles. The new group will be focused on producing games for the Japanese audience as well as those outside the country.
Notably, Capcom says that it will be focusing more on established properties. Four games are planned for fiscal year 2017 (ending March 31, 2017). These will include the Monster Hunter, Sengoku Basara, and Mega Man franchises.
Capcom's new fiscal year begins today, and anticipates that its full-year results will show an 18.9 percent year-over-year growth in sales to ¥63.6 billion ($566 million). Profits are projected to have grown 156.9 percent to ¥12.2 billion ($108.9 million), though operating income has likely dropped by a significant 25.4 percent to ¥6 billion ($53.5 million).
[Source: Capcom]
Our Take
Building a mobile profile around established properties has worked extremely well for Square Enix, and it's what Nintendo is planning to do with DeNA. At the end of the day, the games need to have good hooks and have the right profile for mobile, short burst gaming.
Straight Mega Man ports aren't the answer, but a Battle Network game that takes cues from something like Robot Entertainment's Hero Academy? I'm sold.