Capcom says it will make PC its ‘main platform’ going forwards

Capcom intends to make PC its “main platform” in the coming years, it’s said.

That’s according to the company’s COO Haruhiro Tsujimoto, who told Japanese publication Nikkei (paywall) that the Resident Evil and Monster Hunter firm “will mainly focus on PC software” going forwards.

The exec indicated that Capcom hopes to increase PC software sales to the point where the platform makes up half of all sales by the end of next year.

“PC is driving global sales,” he said. “We have recently stated that we will make the PC our main platform. At this year’s Tokyo Game Show, we focused on exhibiting the PC version of Monster Hunter Rise, and I think people will be able to experience the change in our approach.”

Tsujimoto went on to suggest that the focus on PC was in reaction to both an increase in digital sales of legacy titles – “Resident Evil 7 still sells over one million copies a year,” he said – and a rise in Japanese PC use during the pandemic.

“The pandemic is changing the way people look at PCs,” he said. “Smartphones are convenient, but their screens are small, and their touch panels are difficult to operate, so they are not suitable for home working or school classes. I think PCs will be the next big thing after smartphones.

“The PC can also play high-quality games, so the number of PC users should increase as understanding of the PC increases.

“We will expand our business for dedicated game consoles, which has been the mainstream up to now, but PC will be the mainstream in the future. Next year or the year after, we want to equalize the ratio of sales to PCs and dedicated consoles.”

Capcom has historically focused its attention on console gaming, but in recent years it’s seen more success in the PC space.

In 2019 the company said that PC was the second-largest audience for Monster Hunter World, and Resident Evil Village set a franchise record for concurrent players on Steam earlier this year.

further reading

Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak is a ‘massive expansion’ coming next year

The paid DLC is due in Summer 2022

This weekend Capcom announced that Monster Hunter Rise for PC (Steam) will be released on January 13, 2022. The PC version will include 4K visuals and ultra-wide display support, as well as voice chat functionality, it said.

A demo for the PC version will be released on October 13. Monster Hunter Rise, which is the sixth main entry in the Monster Hunter series, released for Switch in March 2021.