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Capcom have begun construction on two brand new R&D buildings located near its Osaka head office, the company announced this morning. These two buildings will be outfitted with a motion capture room, a studio for producing and recording sound, multi-purpose spaces that can accommodate over a hundred people, and other facilities.
Capcom cited the strong digital focus of next-generation consoles and the spread of social games as two factors that influenced this decision. Here’s what they said:
The appearance of next-generation consoles with a variety of network functions has shifted the focus of sales from conventional package software to digitally distributed content. The profit structure and business model are changing at an increasing speed as a result. Furthermore, the popularity of social games due to the widespread use of smartphones is enabling games to reach more user segments and enlarging the entire game market.
To succeed in this challenging environment, Capcom has been focusing resources on strategic and growing areas under a policy of selection and concentration in order to operate with speed and flexibility. Constructing these new R&D buildings will make game development operations more efficient by centralizing these operations and upgrading speed and control.
Another goal, Capcom say, is to improve the quality of their games while keeping development costs down, by accumulating development technologies and other knowledge. Once again, the company plans to hire 2,500 new employees (at the rate of 100 every year) by 2022, in order to gain a competitive advantage in the space of PC Online and Mobile games.
