Soundwave said:
I don't really even buy the "we couldn't make Street Fighter V without Sony's money!" excuse.
Street Fighter IV was not some small niche seller, it sold like freaking 8+ million copies. Gimme a break Capcom. That's enough to finance Street Fighter V, VI, VII, VIII, and IX. Get outta here with that bullshit.
They thought Switch would bomb this generation and that they might as well put their money all in on Sony and get some exclusivity perks for it.
What they didn't realize at the time was Nintendo wasn't dead and that their PS4 endeavors would sell far less than they could have imagined.
The rumor/leak for Monster Hunter World on PS4 said basically as much ... Capcom started to panic after realizing the MH deal they made with Sony was probably a big mistake (after SFV bombed).
Sony's vision for the PS4 in Japan likely was if they could convince developers to back them fully, maybe just maybe they could bring back the home console market in Japan ala the PS2 days .... and Capcom likely got suckered into believing that vision. But it hasn't materialized ... PS4 is just another PS3 in Japan, OK sales, nothing special, and companies like Capcom that drank that Sony kool-aid are now paying the price.
Fortunately for Capcom they have a built-in "bail out" plan which is Monster Hunter 5 Switch. Capcom will never admit it, but that's the real reason MHW is not called MH5. It was an escape out just in case, especailly after the Street Fighter V debacle. Capcom has already destroyed one of their major IP this gen, they can't afford to do it to a second.
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I agree with you on Capcom hedging their bets on Monster Hunter. It's similar to Nintendo saying the DS was "third pillar" that wouldn't replace the GBA. If Monster Hunter World is hit, they'll say it was MH5. If it fails to meet expectations like most of us think. They'll role out a MH5 for Switch.
I don't completely agree with you on the SFV situation. Capcom was very cash poor before SFV's launch. They had already stated they were planning an SFV but that it probably wouldn't launch until 2018/19. Sony essentially gave them the money to push the game out earlier and start their E-Sports initiative in full force. Sony actually provided the development captial and all of the for prize pool money for the first year of the Capcom Pro Tour. What truly hurt SFV was Capcom's incompetance, not the exclusivity. Capcom spend the build up to SFV marketing the game to casuals. However they released a game that would wasn't built for casuals. It was barebones and lacked the multitude of single player modes that appeals to casual players. Arcade mode and Story Mode are a big draw with casual fighting game players. SFV had neither at launch and still lacks an arcade more. SFV should have been delayed at least year.
