Capcom done with Western devs

Disenchanted with long-distance relationships, Capcom has decided to develop all major new game IP at home in Japan. Company president Haruhiro Tsujimoto said he would drop Western studios entirely if there weren't so many games to make with so few resources.

"Our experience with Bionic Commando has demonstrated the difficulty of outsourcing the development of new titles to overseas companies," said Tsujimoto over Christmas, reported by Kotaku.

"Nevertheless, we cannot develop a sufficient number of titles without using the resources of these companies. This is why we plan to continue using these alliances.

"We are considering ways to separate the roles of activities in Japan and overseas," he added. "We plan to develop new titles primarily in Japan. Overseas companies may be used mostly to develop titles for existing game series with well-established characters and universal themes. Overseas companies will also handle certain parts and/or line-ups of such games."

Swedish studio GRIN, maker of Bionic Commando, closed in August last year because of an "unbearable cashflow situation". BC was released in May but had little impact either critically or commercially.

Tsujimoto becomes the second high-profile Capcom 'name' to condemn a Japan-West collaboration in recent weeks; Lost Planet and Resident Evil maker Jun Takeuchi said "cultural differences" did not allow for "smooth" partnerships.