Capcom President and COO Haruhiro Tsujimoto, specified in a recent investor report that, as a “general rule,” the company likes to “refrain” from implementing gacha mechanics in its games. This is said to be in aid of abating any “social concern” surrounding randomized forms of monetization in video gaming, specifically with regards to the “healthy development of youth.”
This particular issue has seen a lot of heated debate in recent times, with the morality and potential legality of mechanics like gacha and loot boxes being discussed in many different governments. While gacha can be used as a sort of catch-all term for paid microtransactions with a random reward element—as loot boxes can in the West—specifically they mimic gachapon vending machine games where players aim to retrieve prizes enclosed in capsules.
Most often, they appear in mobile games, though Capcom’s specific reluctance to implement such features likely translates to their titles on all platforms. Tsujimoto confirmed that the company isn’t opposed to other forms of recurrent microtransactions, though noted that care is taken in attempting to ensure that all customers can “safely and fairly” enjoy their catalog of titles. Tsujimoto stated that “small-scale, inexpensive” content add-ons for console games are something Capcom is happy to implement, so long as “required” content remains free of charge.
A recent example of this in practice is the sale of both Red and Blue Orbs in Devil May Cry V, offering players the chance to accelerate character progression if they so choose. These were reasonably priced and it’s widely considered that the game didn’t feel as though it was balanced in such a way that ultimately pressured players to part with their money.
In more recent Capcom news, the company’s Annual Report for 2018 revealed that Resident Evil is still their most lucrative franchise. The second and third places are occupied by Monster Hunter and Street Fighter, respectively.
[Source: Capcom]
