In just over a week since the debut of AR mobile game Monster Hunter Now, shares in Capcom have risen by 6% as five million people are playing the new title already.
This latest instalment in the Monster Hunter series was developed with Niantic for mobile, using the dev’s renowned AR and geolocation tech to build a game garnering many comparisons to Pokémon Go: Niantic develops both games, and both use popular Japanese monster IPs.
However, Reuters has noted that some industry observers are unconvinced that the success of Go can be replicated here, with Monster Hunter being a relatively niche franchise compared to the behemoth that is Pokémon.
Rise, Monster Hunter
In recent years, Capcom has been going from strength to strength with its gaming success, increasing annual revenues and profits and a 73.8% net sales increase in Q1 2023. And this trend of success looks well poised to continue, as Monster Hunter Now has reached the pinnacle of the top-grossing chart on iOS in Japan. It also claimed the top spot among free action game downloads on the US Play Store through its first 10 days.
The potential of a greater mobile push could be huge for Capcom, with even the reveal of Now boosting the company’s shares back in May. It is clear that Capcom is taking the prospect seriously too, having just revealed that Resident Evil 4 Remake will launch on the iPhone 15 Pro at console price, and announcing that its eyes are set on India’s mobile market for the future of gaming.
Such claims are sure to gain interest from investors - as is already being seen with the share rise, nearing an all-time high - and if Monster Hunter Now sees sustained engagement and success, the future of Capcom on mobile looks bright.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Capcom COO Haruhiro Tsujimoto said: "Capcom’s high-quality games have finally become playable on smartphones with the iPhone 15 Pro. Of course, we wanted to do it much earlier, but our technology was not able to meet that requirement. Now that we have the technology, we can continue introducing our games for the smartphones."
Tsujimoto also noted he would "gracefully decline" an M&A offer from Microsoft, should such an offer be made - unlike Activision Blizzard in the biggest games industry deal of all time.
Capcom and Activision Blizzard both featured in our Top 50 Game Makers list.
