Capcom uses 50% development costs to promote Lost Planet, tries to gain more share in West

Forbes has a very interesting article up about Capcom's recent endeavours to gain more share in Western markets. Not surprisingly, this not only involves creating games more oriented for Western gamers but also marketing them well enough for people to take notice:

Beaumont's marketing prowess has already pushed Lost Planet to near-blockbuster status: Capcom shipped 1 million copies before the game went on sale Jan. 12. A game that sells 3 million units globally is generally considered a smash hit. Capcom has spent $20 million developing the game and will spend another $20 million promoting it. In the past that ratio tilted heavily toward development. Lost Planet anchors Capcom's quest to capture share in North America and Europe, which account for 80% of the world's $16.3 billion game market.

In the fiscal year ended last March Capcom derived only 30% of its revenues in Western markets, the rest coming mostly from Japan. For fiscal 2006 Capcom will have pushed the balance to 50/50. And for 2007 the company wants a 65/35 split favoring the West, mirroring the market's true makeup. New titles, including Resident Evil 4 and The Devil May Cry III, helped Capcom increase net income 91% to $58 million in fiscal 2005 on revenues of $600 million, up 6.6%.

Frankly, I don't know whether to be happy or sad about this. Or indifferent for that matter. While it's good that Capcom is trying to create games that target a global demographic, one has to wonder if a time will ever come when Japanese game developers lose what makes them stand out from Western game developers. Developers like SEGA and Nintendo -- and even Square Enix to an extent -- are already prioritizing Western markets judging from their recent announcements.

It would be a terrible thing to see the companies that made console gaming what it is today drop the traits that made them big in the first place. I hope to God it doesn't happen.