Capcom "actively pursuing" overseas acquisitions

Capcom has revealed that as part of its expansion plans outside of Japan, it is currently "actively pursuing" partnerships and acquisitions.

With figures showing that 90 per cent of sales for recent hits Lost Planet and Dead Rising were outside of Japan, the company has targeted overseas growth as a key business strategy for 2007.

"Capcom is currently not envisioning any mergers with domestic game companies or toy makers. [This] would not bring with it content that is popular overseas and thus would not contribute to Capcom's overseas growth" said Kenzo Tsujimoto, CEO of Capcom.

"On the other hand, mutual shareholding in, business partnerships with, or acquisition of companies that create content popular around the world is something Capcom is actively pursuing," he revealed to shareholders.

The publisher also stated that it has high expectations for sales of the forthcoming Devil May Cry 4, hoping to see 1.8 million units sold in the next financial year.

So far, the Devil May Cry series has seen worldwide sales of 6.8 million units over eight different formats.

Capcom also expects sales of Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition to reach 420,000 units worldwide.

With six new Wii titles due in the next financial year and 14 games for the Nintendo DS, the company also reiterated its stance on multiplatform development.

"By not limiting development support to specific platforms, it enables Capcom to develop with each platform's strengths in mind and to reach a wide variety of users, further expanding its user base," said Kazuhiko Abe, director and managing corporate officer.