Capcom: Console quality hurting arcade business

Capcom has expressed its concerns regarding the sustainability of the arcade sector due to the quality between arcade and console titles becoming “negligible”.

The Osaka-based publisher spoke of the flagging arcade industry in Japan during its quarterly financial report.

The firm stated that Japanese arcades have in recent times seen a declining rate of visitors. “This was due partially to the lack of sales-inducing games,” the company said, “and to the fact that the difference between home video games and arcade games has become negligible.”

Capcom did add that it was pleased with its Street Fighter IV arcade-to-console strategy, adding that console units sales have surpassed the 2 million mark.

“We released Street Fighter IV [in arcades] with the aim of taking full advantage of the synergistic effects of from our home video game software,” said the group, adding that it was able to achieve “satisfactory results” in a tough environment.