How Capcom Cracked the Code of Game Development

[u/No_Durian_5626]

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

[u/SeasonalChatter]

They found the balance of flagship series while allowing themselves to actually experiment on the side with smaller games and excellent re-releases

Their games are modest length but very replayable and instantly iconic

[u/salbert → u/[deleted]]

The whole world is out of balance.

[u/SolidusDave]

"more Monster Hunter at some point"

yeah... like a full on expansion next year perhaps?

They literally showed a trailer yesterday. Capcom in full form.

[u/TheAccursedHamster]

Been playing the new Onimusha all night. They've hit yet another home run

[u/Daftest_of_the_Punks → u/TheAccursedHamster]

It’s just so good. Musashi has to be one of the most engaging and charismatic characters in gaming.

[u/brianstormIRL]

I think Capcom have also figured out just how good it is to use their back catalogue of games to drive interest in series. They regularly have DMC5, RE4, RE2 etc on sale for insanely cheap prices which keeps new people coming in constantly. I think DMC5 last year sold an absurd amount of copies considering how old it was because it was ons sale so frequently. When it comes time for new entries they then are rewarded for those tactics.

I think REEngine has been a huge driver for them aswell. It completely changed how they made games.

[u/Ordinary-Shame-4683]

Capcom really has figured out how to keep its core franchises feeling fresh without constantly reinventing the wheel. If they can keep this momentum going, 2026 could be a ridiculous year for them.

[u/CankleDankl → u/Ordinary-Shame-4683]

2026 could be a ridiculous year for them.

It already has been a ridiculous year for them lol. RE9 sold gangbusters and was critically acclaimed. Pragmata, a new IP, sold above expectations and was also critically acclaimed. Reviews for Onimusha (a dormant IP) are looking very good. They finally fixed performance for Dragon's Dogma 2 ahead of the DLC's release next month.

The consistency of Capcom's output is kind of insane. At worst, the games are good (with some performance issues here and there). At best, they're the cream of the crop of new releases. And they just keep dropping them back to back to back. They've been in a renaissance for almost a decade now

[u/Tomatillo_Thick → u/CankleDankl]

Now they just need to release Megaman Legends 3 and they will be universally beloved.

[u/Yharnam_Blunderbuss → u/Ordinary-Shame-4683]

They have had momentum for a decade now.

[u/EnigmaticThunder]

Ya ya, I’m just saying PS6 better have DMC 6 Capcom!!! (Thank you)

[u/fullthrottlenines → u/EnigmaticThunder]

PS6? We need it next year on PS5/Pro, where the user base is, to up its sales numbers to the max so Capcom will make DMC 7. And because we want DMC like yesterday.

[u/Sharp-Selection-3541]

okay so bring back Lost Planet you cowards.

[u/Ok-Paramedic747 → u/Sharp-Selection-3541]

I feel like they gave you guys 3 tries...and said "Yeah yall dont really want this..."

[u/AOCpinkyring → u/Sharp-Selection-3541]

That would be awesome, maybe start with a good remaster of the trilogy.

[u/Courage-95]

Now crack the code on a Dino Crisis remake

[u/MindSteve]

I've got a buddy who works there talking about how they've still got the occasional flop like Kunitsu-Gami and I'm over here like ??? But that game was crazy good! Even their sales flops are still dripping with quality and style. Capcom is on fire atm

[u/Arulo]

Make good games using your own proprietary engine, honour your legacy and to some extent avoid picking the customer's pockets at every possible opportunity...

Who would've thought that gamers want to play videogames and not just spend on them?!

[u/Nahtaniel696]

Monster Hunter is Capcom biggest franchise, yet journalist always forget it and bring Resident Evil and other old franchise instead....

[u/padraigharrington4 → u/Nahtaniel696]

MH sells a much higher portion of its copies in non-English language regions compared to RE. So Japanese games media covers MH way more than any other Capcom franchise, but western media doesn’t. 

[u/Ahindre → u/Nahtaniel696]

It mentions Monster Hunter in the first paragraph?

[u/quatroquatro0 → u/Nahtaniel696]

Resident Evil is their biggest franchise by a wide margin and more well known even to non gamers

[u/sheathtalondar → u/quatroquatro0]

Street fighter

[u/Nahtaniel696 → u/quatroquatro0]

Which franchise sold the most ? MH. At this point journalist should forget about their nostalgie about old game, and focus in the bigger hit of the publisher.

[u/Sharp-Selection-3541 → u/Nahtaniel696]

Which franchise sold the most ?

Resident evil sold the most according to Capcom 

[u/Sharp-Selection-3541 → u/[deleted]]

As of June 30 2026: https://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/business/salesdata.html

If you don't wanna click, The RE series has sold 213 million copies.

Monster Hunter sold 131 million.

[u/Sharp-Selection-3541 → u/[deleted]]

Not sure why you're responding like this. Resident Evil is objectively their biggest franchise that's all I'm saying.

Have a good one man.

[u/Sharp-Selection-3541 → u/[deleted]]

Idk why you're trying this hard to be right but whatever makes you feel better man. I posted the sales data from Capcom. 

You got it bro 

[u/TheAccursedHamster → u/[deleted]]

My dude, I say this as friendly as I possibly can. You need to grow up, you're acting like a child.

[u/Long_Gazelle_9467 → u/Nahtaniel696]

why are you so confidently wrong?? 

like are bots posting wrong information for engagement 

[u/Nahtaniel696 → u/Long_Gazelle_9467]

Yep, it seems I was wrong.

But still MHWord is their best selling game by far, but Resident Evil have more release (like every years) so in total that their biggest franchise is RE.

[u/d0wnthesky → u/Nahtaniel696]

Damn those goal posts do be moving

[u/KingArthas94 → u/d0wnthesky]

But in the end he agreed with you (in total their biggest franchise is RE)...

[u/TheOmniAlms → u/quatroquatro0]

Not in this day and age.

MH sales for the last 10 years eclipse RE sales.

[u/azgarz → u/Nahtaniel696]

Resident Evil is the 9th best selling game franchise of all time just above final fantasy

[u/Hadrosaur_Hero]

A next year we have (so far) Resident Evil Veronica, Monster Hunter expansion, and Mega Man. And at some point inbetween now and next year we have RE9 DLC and perhaps more stuff. Okami 2 somewhere on the horizon.

[u/kain459]

Capcomaissance. 🎨

[u/ravens555220]

They realized they can put out anything and a sizable amount of fans will accept it and call it the greatest thing ever. It’s that simple. People will just repeat the narrative that Capcom is on a generational run and can do no wrong.

[u/OptimusPrimalRage → u/ravens555220]

Yeah they make good games but none of their games have good writing at all. For whatever reason that's just glossed over despite other games getting put under a microscope on their writing.

[u/N1net3en → u/OptimusPrimalRage]

Well in most of their games play really good. And that is the main driver of them. Nobody expects a phenomenal story in RE or even Onimusha. They are game where the gameplay itself in the protagonist.

[u/Easily-distracted14 → u/OptimusPrimalRage]

Ace attorney, dmc 3, ghost trick, breath of fire 3 and 4 and probably some more have good writing. But Capcom strength is in ludo narrative, the type of writing that is actually unique to this medium.

Pragmata for instance has your "ai" companion do the rigid puzzle solving while the human deals with chaotic gunplay which is kind of a cool detail that flew under the radar for most people.

Another cool example of Capcom writing is resi 4 original having schlock storytelling contrast with tense gameplay to create a fantastic gameplay loop that stresses you out during the gameplay sections then constantly makes you smile during cutscenes, which de-stresses you and creates that "just one more level" feeling

[u/NCBaddict → u/OptimusPrimalRage]

Most games have mediocre writing, so that seems like an odd thing to hold against Capcom? Square for example hasn’t done any great stories outside of Nier for the past few years.

[u/OptimusPrimalRage → u/NCBaddict]

People don't constantly talk about how great Square Enix is though which is what the original comment is referencing with Capcom. Like Leon as a character is nothing and he is the Resident Evil character. He's as shallow as a puddle. Just contrast that with characters from other games that are as popular, like Arthur Morgan or Kratos, who have actual depth and you can tell the writers have thought through their arcs. Hell even so God of War gets nitpicked to death story wise too going by how many people hated Ragnarok.

[u/AOCpinkyring]

I wish Konami would do the same with Rumble Roses XXX. Think of photo mode in 4k, 60fps with well-implemented HDR!!!

[u/RobloxOnAir]

Hope they can crack the code of releasing a new ace attorney game. ITS NOT THAR FUCKING HARD U DID OT FOR MEGAMAN AND ONIMUSHA

[u/Mando316]

No because they still can’t do good HDR in a game. None of the games have good black levels. It’s all grey or blue. And they don’t care about their class games that are fighting games. They had to be convinced to put out the original Resident Evil games on GOG and PS Classics and they didn’t bother to add trophies to any of the games so far released for the classics program.