Capcom Social Gaming for Smartphones
Capcom has created 3 new regional divisions, under Beeline Interactive brand, dedicated to social gaming on smartphones: http://bit.ly/iWClSO
Announcement of Strategic Subsidiary in Social Game Business
The Board of Directors of Capcom Co., Ltd. (Capcom) approved a resolution on April 19, 2011 to establish a subsidiary to be called Beeline Interactive Japan Co., Ltd. The new company will develop and distribute social games to users of smartphones in Japan and other Asian countries.
1. Reason for establishing Beeline Interactive Japan
The market for video games has undergone dramatic changes in recent years. In addition to the traditional market of home game console users, there has continuous and rapid growth in the number of people who enjoy games on personal computers, smartphones and other types of new platforms.
The pace of change has been particularly fast in the mobile game market. Advances in the performance of cell phones along with the emergence of social networking services have attracted users in all areas of the world who had never before played a video game.
Significantly, the number of smartphones in use is expected to surpass the number of personal computers in 2012. Growth of the smartphone platform is driven primarily by the popularity of social games, which account for about half of the smartphone game market. As a result, the key to achieving growth of the mobile game business is to focus on social games for smartphones on a global scale.
2. Strategic objectives associated with the establishment of Beeline Interactive Japan
Capcom realigned its mobile operations to focus on smartphone game development in 2009. Since then, the company’s North American and European subsidiaries have achieved impressive success with “freemium” social games targeted at the “casual” gamer. Titles released in this category thus far include “Smurfs’ Village,” “Zombie Cafe” and “Lil’ Pirates.” With these games, Capcom quickly created a successful smartphone game business. Cumulative downloads of these three titles are currently more than 15 million. “Smurfs’ Village” is very popular, having been a top-grossing game in 55 countries on Apple’s App Store. Capcom’s goal is to capitalize on this success and grow its audience of smartphone casual game players, a customer segment that differs from users of home video games.
To accomplish this goal, Capcom decided to launch a second brand for the development and distribution of original mobile content outside of the company’s celebrated intellectual property. In addition, Capcom will establish a new strategic subsidiary in Asia. By taking these actions, Capcom is determined to make social games for smartphones a second core business alongside the Consumer Online games business.