Capcom Bets Big On PlayStation 3 This Year

Fiscal 2012 is going to be a big year for the PlayStation 3, according to Japanese game publisher Capcom, projecting that roughly 44 percent of its games sold will be for that system. According to information released to its investors, the company projects that its 16 PlayStation 3 titles planned for release in the year ending March 31, 2012 will sell around 8 million units combined, significantly more than any other platform. By contrast, it is projecting that its 14 Xbox 360 titles will sell 4.7 million units, around 26 percent of all of its sales. During the prior fiscal year, the PlayStation 3 and the PSP had the same amount of games released and sold -- 11 and 6.2 million, respectively -- each representing 30 percent of the company's sales. However, Capcom is projecting a steep decline in PSP sales in fiscal 2012: though it will release the same number of games as last year, it is only projecting 2.2 million copies will be sold. The company's confirmed PlayStation 3 output for the fiscal year includes Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, new HD remakes of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil Code: Veronica X, a high definition port of its popular PSP game Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, and the original game Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, the latter of which the company recently said would be its best seller for the year. Games with unannounced ship dates that may also come out during the year include fighting game crossover Street Fighter X Tekken, new IPs Dragon's Dogma and Asura's Wrath, spin-off Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, the revival of its Devil May Cry series, board game translation Talisman, and a new online version of Street Fighter III: Third Strike. The company's game output across all platforms is up slightly this year -- 55 from last year's 53 -- though it is expecting to sell slightly fewer, at 18 million compared to last year's 20.5 million. Capcom's projections do not include games for systems that may be released during the fiscal year, including Sony's NGP and Nintendo's home Wii successor.