Capcom To Partner With 'Major' Chinese Online Game Firm

Osaka, Japan-based Capcom is looking to break into the burgeoning Chinese online game market with a new partnership with an unnamed "major" Chinese online game company, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported Friday. Capcom president Haruhiro Tsujimoto said at this week's Tokyo Game Show that the company would formally announce the partnership next year, when it releases Monster Hunter Frontier Online in China. Monster Hunter Frontier Online originally released on PC in 2007 and on Xbox 360 this year in Asian territories. The news of Capcom's talks comes soon after Tokyo-based Square Enix announced a partnership with major Shanghai, China-based online game operator Shanda to bring the upcoming MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV to the region. Other major Chinese online game operators aside from Shanda include Tencent, The9 and NetEase. Bloomberg BusinessWeek cited a report from consulting firm iResearch that estimated the Chinese online game market was worth $4 billion last year. Tsujimoto said, "These next few years we cannot overlook the Asian markets, China being the first and foremost. The offering has to be closely tailored to fit the Chinese market to be successful."