Capcom: There are some things AI can‘t do...

Research evidence excerpt

Capcom: There are some things AI can‘t do...

ts in the past that Capcom’s combination of (1) in-house engine development; and (2) iterative

game development promoting cross-pollination of new features contributes to creative quality. Looking at the results, Capcom

ranked among the industry’s top 3 developers in each of 2023-2025, based on Metacritic’s annual developer rankings (see

Exhibit 2). With Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata, and Monster Hunter Stories 3 scoring 89, 85, and 86 - and Onimusha looking

strong (the demo was downloaded over 1mn times) - it seems beyond doubt that Capcom will rank strongly again in 2026 (see

Exhibit 3).

In terms of sales, RE Requiem continues to sell solidly. Having confirmed 7mn units sold shortly after launch, we note that Steam

reviews for the game continue to run at almost double the pace of RE4 Remake at a similar stage after launch. 8.5-9.0mn units

of first-year sales now feels likely for the game (see Exhibit 4). Pragmata meanwhile looks on track to sell 2.5-3.0mn units in

FY3/27E, and importantly looks like the start of a new IP franchise (see Exhibit 5). Taken together, we think the combination

of RE Veronica excitement, MH Wilds PC optimization fixes helping to boost engagement, and other new titles on the horizon

(e.g. Dragon’s Dogma 2 Dark Arisen) means company’s guidance for 65mn new game sales units should be readily achievable

without making heroic assumptions on sales by title (see Exhibit 6). But even a slight miss on catalog units (in the context of high

comps for several titles, like Devil May Cry 5) should be tolerable, as far as Capcom delivering on its operating profit target is

concerned.

Some preliminary estimates for the 2027 line-up: can Ascension compensate for MH Wilds’ PC issues?