Capcom: We plan to continue promoting Street Fighter as our flagship eSports title in the future
They're sticking with Street Fighter and they're in it for the medium to long haul
Team-based games like League of Legends, Counter-Strike and Overwatch are amongst the main breadwinners of eSports, while battle royale titles like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite have made major splashes as of more recent times.
Capcom's competitive entertainment stands more in the one vs. one realm of fighters, namely Street Fighter 5 (since Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite failed to take off in this avenue), and it seems that's where they're putting most of their eSports eggs for the time being.
In the question and answer portion of the company's recent shareholders' meeting, the idea of going with a more mainstream approach to eSports was brought up as it's no secret fighting games take a backseat in the current eSports climate to genres that offer bigger arenas with more simultaneously active players.
"Regarding eSports, I believe it would be best to develop multiplayer online games because team-based competitive games are the mainstream. Capcom is currently using Street Fighter, but what are your thoughts on utilizing other titles in eSports?" reads the shareholder question.
Read on to see Capcom's full response.
"We plan to continue promoting Street Fighter as our flagship eSports title in the future. Additionally, we will consider developing multiplayer online games and act accordingly. Also, note that it is possible to play Monster Hunter: World with up to four people throughout the globe," answered Capcom.
There are many directions things could take from here, but this response does shed some potential light on where things are at for the developers of Resident Evil, Monster Hunter and Street Fighter.
First off, this implies that Street Fighter and the Pro Tour are hitting marks effectively enough to at least keep the ship on course for the foreseeable future. Indeed we've seen a bigger and better CPT each year with growth in either prize pools, number of events or both.
This is further bolstered when we look at Capcom's current view of eSports as a medium to long term investment. During Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kenzo Tsujimoto's, 2017 fiscal year presentation he noted the following:
"In order to monetize our eSports business, or acquire sponsors who provide funding, we believe that first, in addition to expanding the base of users who enjoy eSports, it is necessary to build a track record of success in the eSports market," said Tsujimoto. "To this end, we would like to take a medium-term approach to this business, rather than focusing on short-term monetization."
Tsujimoto used the following two slides in his presentation to highlight the focus on Street Fighter eSports. The first depicts the plan for longer term eSports goals, the second highlights the strengths of Street Fighter as a brand that's already recognizable worldwide and the third examines how they propose to grow eSports via the Pro Tour.
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You can view the full 20 minute presentation right here. Photo credit: Stephanie Lindgren.
