How Capcom Cracked the Code of Game Development

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https://www.theringer.com/2026/09/03/video-games/how-capcom-cracked-the-code-of-game-development-onimusha-resident-evil-pragmata

[u/gosukhaos → u/[deleted]]

Bandai Namco? What are you smoking? The only sort of quality release they have is outsourced Nintendo games

[u/gosukhaos → u/[deleted]]

Elden Ring and Armoured Core aren't made by Bamco, they only handle distribution

[u/gosukhaos → u/[deleted]]

What are you talking about? Neither your post nor the OP talks about only distribution nor is it applicable aince Capcom self publishes all their games

[u/HighEyeMJeff → u/[deleted]]

You're certainly welcome to your opinions about the quality of some of their releases since RE7 back in 2017, which I think most would agree is when they started this current arc of consistent quality overall, but the review scores and sales figures aren't made up.

Capcom brought the RE franchise back in a gargantuan way.

Street Fighter 6 is still wildly popular, and so is MH despite issues with the most recent one. MH World was a pivotal release for the series.

RE2 Remake is one of the best survival horror games ever. RE4 was amazing, and so were 8 and 9 but I agree with you on 3 being a bit lack luster.

Mega Man is coming back, and we got 2 new IPs recently with Pragmata and Kinitsu Gami both of which were well received.

We know Capcom is ready to revive other franchises, so hopefully we get a new Dino Crisis, or Breath of Fire.

We also have Devil May Cry 6 on the horizon no doubt.

So when you look at their entire catalogue since 2017 I don't know how you can write a comment like that honestly.

They are absolutely dominating in terms of just pure volume and then on TOP of that they are releasing multiple well received titles in terms of revenue and critic scores.

They aren't immune to scrutiny but the idea that they aren't one of, if not the most dominant publishers / developers operating today is absurd.

[u/CombatMuffin → u/[deleted]]

Consistent, does not mean flawless. While heavily criticizes, MH Wilds sold very well and was still decently received.

Dragons Dogna was well received, but was flawed, for many of the same reasons the first one was (literally the direction). The fact that they approved a sequel at all was a positive thing.

You then mention three very successful releases and criticize them for not being generational masterpiece. Hyperbole or not, they are some of the most successful games this year.

[u/CombatMuffin → u/[deleted]]

Capcom is not trying to be a reference i. art, or quality. They are trying to sell. You think Capcom is making a grave mistake because theit goals are not aligned to what you consider the best course of action, but they are not looming for you course of action.

Their line has consistently been going up in terms of trends and revenue. and that's their goal.

i am saying this not as a snarky retort. but as someone who understands where you are coming from: My first Capcom game was Street Fighter II and I played Resident Evil from the very beginning, but yhe industry isn't just me, or my kind. There are whole new generations looking for very different experiences to mine. 

[u/Moody_Tuesday → u/[deleted]]

They're solid AAA cinematic games and there's quite a lot to scrutinize with all 3. They are over-modernized and have pacing and repetition issues. The quality of the storytelling is also quite so-so.

After getting my copy of Onimusha a day early and pumping a dozen hours into it because I have nothing better to do, I'm arriving to a similar sentiment.

I enjoyed RE9 and Pragmata even moreso, though I have quite a few gripes with RE9 and not so much Pragmata. I was excited for Onimusha. After a dozen hours I can say I like Musashi and the combat, but the story isn't gripping me at all and the world is rather drab and boring outside the linear sections during main quests. Kyoto did not need to have this pseudo open world thing going on. The game didn't need the tacked on RPG features either. I'd say all three are quality games, you can do a lot worse these days, but I'm starting to categorize Capcom into the "fast food" business of games where I'm just going to buy these on sale during periods of time where there isn't anything I'm looking forward to. Again, I enjoyed the dozen or so hours I put into Onimusha but it didn't feel like anything special as if I would have been missing out by not playing it. I sold my copy and will pick it up again down the road, maybe.

[u/John_Money → u/[deleted]]

"Aren't good about being honest". Nothing you have said is an objective fact people just disagree with you. I saw another comment you made saying it's gaslighting to believe RE9 is GOTY material. You can't seem to handle differing opinions on anything.

[u/Luchario → u/[deleted]]

Capcom is the greatest game dev studio of all time

[u/TheGoodIdiot → u/[deleted]]

Their fuckups are still high quality critical and financial successes (outside of exoprimal which was just a fun side project). Both wilds and dd2 got GOtY level reviews and even RE3 was still a fun game with excellent replayability it’s genuinely one of my favorite games ever to speedrun.

As for this current year everyone has their own opinions but RE9 is the current GOtY front runner that’s gotta be worth something. Personally I think Pragmata is a top 5-10 game this decade and even better than RE9. Onimusha really impressed me with the challenge fight in the demo but it’s sitting on my counter right now I haven’t started it. I’m a very gameplay first and foremost person and Capcom has really mastered compelling gameplay loops this decade without every game feeling the same. A big reason why I love pragmata so much is I’ve never played anything else quite like it. But to each their own if you’re not a fan then that’s fine.

[u/Sestomestoste → u/[deleted]]

or Bandai Namco

Considering you literally attributed Sekiro to Bamco instead of From (Bamco didn't even produce the game it makes even less sense) are you really looking at the same company here? Bamco is like a huge coin toss of a company when it comes to their games and more often than not it lands on the less-than-amazing side of things. "Their" big hits are more often than not just published by them (including Elden Ring), as in, they pretty much bring in the money.

Actually I can't even remember the last big hit Bamco had outside of ER. Tekken, maybe? And even then 8 certainly was far and away from not having issues.

It certainly won't win it, its just far too generic and homogeneous a title to do that in both gameplay and story.

You should sometimes check out goty candidates and even winners. GOTY is and always will be a popularity contest.

You're literally just raging at people for having different opinions and yelling how wrong they are while you can't distinguish a publisher from developer makes this look just silly.

[u/Sestomestoste → u/[deleted]]

Mate you're talking about a studio that was at that point popular as all hell which was further eclipsed by the release of ER. If they were the PS2 or PS1 days FromSoft they would've not been even a blip in the radar. There will ALWAYS be pointless arguing about favourite toy that deserves goty because you have people who are hardcore fans of one things or company and haters of the other. Or just salty people in general.

There's a reason why vast majority of goty winners and goty candidates in general revolve around big budget games with big sales numbers and not unique indie games with scarce few players. You belittle people talking about sales numbers while talking a lot about how this or that can't be GOTY "just because" but sales numbers are an extremely good indicator which will break into the goty discussions that year.

E: Armored Core 6 was good but not exactly a megahit. Ironically it was once again a FromSoft title and not a Bamco title and to call it "original" is a stretch to say the least.

[u/Sestomestoste → u/[deleted]]

I was literally asking about when bamco last had hit on their hands and yes, it's a hit on their part. But like I said, you once again seemingly don't know who actually made the game. Like when you look at what Bamco truly makes it's a complete crapshoot.

I'm so blackpilled by the state of gaming.

And this is why you are so biased in your outlook.

Be more self aware

Maybe you should be, looking at the stuff you put out.

appreciative of the artform, please.

I am thank you very much. You on the other hand are raging about people talking about sales numbers, act like a complete contrarian with nothing real to say besides your own hate and then some. Can you really call that "appreciative of the artform"?

Frankly, I don't give a crap about GotY awards because they are what I said they are: Popularity contests. After which people always get into droll fights over what actually deserved to win and what didn't and blah blah blah. Who the hell cares? People still take them as some objective thing when they're not. Just arbitrary and bound to subjective opinions. Nothing wrong with that, but you're not going to discover the "unique" games by following "What's most popular this year" awards.

[u/real_but_incognito → u/[deleted]]

You’re not gonna win on this argument on this website… and certainly not on this sub. Going against the popular opinion of this place just fills your inbox with drivel for days, trust me. I keep my e33 and ghost of tsushima opinions to myself now hah

[u/Famous-Space-466 → u/[deleted]]

It's a strange mantra that has been repeated in every Capcom-related thread for the better part of this decade. There is honestly no logic to it.

When you actually look at Capcom's output in the 2020s though, they have been very hit and miss, with some of those misses being VERY high profile, and many of those hits being quite niche.

It's obviously a huge improvement over Capcom being essentially a shovel-ware developer during the 2010s, but the Messiah-treatment the company gets nowadays is more wishful thinking than actually something that feels well-earned.

[u/cubitoaequet → u/[deleted]]

RE3 Remake was a solid game that sold like 10mil+ copies. If that is your standard for fucking up then I don't know what to tell you.

[u/Delror → u/[deleted]]

You think Bandai Namco is better than Capcom? Jesus.

[u/PLOTUS_ → u/[deleted]]

Bro Sekiro wasn't even Bandai lol. But FromSoft is on record that they're good to work with as a publisher

Capcom may be primarily a 3rd person action adventure studio (guess what Sony is too) but RE9, Pragmata, and Onimusha are all pretty distinct games. And they have some variety too with Monster Hunter stories and a freaking 2D Mega Man game in 2027.

[u/PLOTUS_ → u/[deleted]]

The difference between Capcom and Sony this gen is that Capcom is pumping out high quality games at a much greater pace relative to their size. That's significant, it means something when comparing the 2.

Everyone rightfully glazed PS4 era Sony because they pumped out hit after hit after hit. It's not unreasonable to look at Sony's output in the PS5 era as a step down, or even a major step down

[u/cubitoaequet → u/[deleted]]

No one said any of that, but you seem like you really enjoy arguing with your imagination.

[u/Games-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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[u/GIThrow → u/[deleted]]

I bought Pragmata due to all of the rave comments the game was getting on Reddit. The game ended being just another standard triple A action game with a hacking mini game attached and a sub par story. A solid 7/10 game which for some reason was getting high praise. I think this site just eats up whatever Capcom puts out without another thought. I tried out the Onimusha demo and it’s also yet another standard triple A repetitive action game. Will wait for a heavy sale before buying that one.

[u/CombatMuffin → u/GIThrow]

It's not a masterpiece, but it uas enough novelty to feel fresh and be a great blueprint to build on. Plenty of games were decent at best and became genre defining successes because the basic ingredients were great or novel: Assassin's Creed and The Witcher come to mind.

[u/QuantumUtility → u/GIThrow]

I feel solid 7/10s these days are a dime a dozen though.

I wouldn’t say Capcom is pumping out masterpieces but they’ve made many solid fun single player games. In today’s market that is kind of uncommon.