From Crapcom to Capcom

Who says you can’t turn things around?

Capcom has been around for a long time. If I may be so bold, I would say that it is one of the oldest video game companies in the world. I don’t know much about the early days of the company but I do know the company first rose to fame for its arcade games. You will have to read about that from someone else as that was before my time but suffice it say it had a lot of popular arcade games. It also gained fame for developing the Mega Man series on early video game consoles while also dabbling in a few licensed games along with a couple Zelda titles for Nintendo. I think I’m getting this brief history right but, if I’m not, just know that I’m an unreliable narrator and leave it at that. I’m not really interested in its entire history to be honest. What I am interested in is what happened in the late 2000s.

For you see, Capcom was one of the most successful and well-regarded companies for a long time. It developed some of the most enduring franchises out of any company out there but something changed in the late 2000s and early 2010s which made people pull away from the company. This is where, at least in my memory, people began calling the company “Crapcom” in comment sections, forums, and on social media. This is where our story begins.

Resident Evil is Capcom’s bestselling series to date. Its popularity cannot be overstated in my opinion. It introduced and popularized the survival horror genre. People’s view of the franchise, however, started souring with the release of Resident Evil 5 in 2009. For starters, it was co-op and, while not a bad thing per se, not many games have pulled off survival horror in a co-op format. The game sold extremely well (and I do mean extremely well) but the consensus formed that it was too action heavy and lacked horror elements leading many to question the future of the series.

Although Resident Evil 5 seeded doubt about the franchise’s future, Resident Evil 6 is the game that really did a number on its reputation. Resident Evil 6 threw the survival horror aspects out the window and went full-on action game. In fact, I remember reading on websites that the game was more of an action game than a Resident Evil game. If I remember correctly, Resident Evil 6 sold well but the fans were not happy in the slightest with what the series had become. The moniker “Crapcom” was being thrown around a lot during this time.

This would have been fine if this only happened to one of Capcom’s series’ but it also happened to another of its famous franchises. I’m talking about Devil May Cry, in case you were wondering. I will be the first to admit that I’m not an expert on this series so if I inaccurately represent what occurred around this time, please feel free to correct me. In fact, if any of you remember this part of Capcom’s history differently, please let me know down below! I’m not a Capcom expert by any means, I’m just writing about how I remember all of this going down. Anyways, back to Devil May Cry.

In 2013, a reboot of the series called DmC: Devil May Cry came out. Critics appeared to like the game. The fanbase did not. I played about half of the game a few years after it came out and I liked what I played but then I read that the fans did not care for it at all. From what I could gather, people did not like the character designs in the game along with a few of the gameplay tweaks that were made. To be fair to Capcom, they only published this game. They did not develop it. That didn’t give them a fair pass from the fans though.

There were many other missteps (and successes!) during this period that I won’t get into here. One last thing I’ll say is the antipathy against Capcom, at least from my perspective, peaked when Street Fighter V released in 2016. To begin with, the game only released on PS4 and PC, not Xbox. It hasn’t released on Xbox to this day in fact. From what I’ve heard, Xbox players didn’t miss much.

The game in question was much maligned because it wasn’t a complete experience. It released with only a few features and was missing characters who were present in early releases in the series. For those who don’t know, releasing a fighting game with only a few characters is a travesty so that didn’t sit well with the fans. Its online servers were also broken and there were quite a few bugs in the game as well which certainly didn’t help. Although the game would go on to sell well and Capcom improved it over time, Street Fighter V is still not held in the highest regard due to how it released.

As you can see, Capcom was struggling to keep its main game franchises in working order during this time. This is why it was often called “Crapcom” online. People were not pleased with what the company was doing and they had become disillusioned with its future. But then, curiously, something happened not long after the disastrous release of Street Fighter V. Something that I think should be studied by executives who are looking to turn a company’s reputation around. It is the moment, at least in my humble opinion, where the term “Crapcom” went the way of the dodo and Capcom regained its proper name. I am of course talking about Resident Evil 7.

Resident Evil 7 caused quite a stir when it was announced. I actually became aware of Capcom’s output during this time because of the reception to Resident Evil 7’s announcement. It generated a lot of excitement not only because Resident Evil was returning (remember, the last game released five years prior) but also because the series was returning to its survival horror roots and not the action-oriented titles of the previous decade. There wasn’t any co-op either. Resident Evil 7 would feature the gameplay the series had become known for and people were ecstatic. They were so ecstatic, in fact, that Resident Evil 7 became the bestselling title in the series (until very recently, that is).

Capcom would build on RE 7’s success by releasing remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3. Both were well-regarded although people (myself included) liked Resident Evil 2 more than 3. They liked it so much that it is now the bestselling game in the whole series overtaking RE 7 earlier this month. Capcom would then release Resident Evil Village which was a success as well. A late bloomer in all things, I personally didn’t play any Resident Evil game until Village and let me just tell you that I’m a big fan now. I played and finished Village first, then Resident Evil 7, Resident Evil 2, and the recent remake of Resident Evil 4. I also got about three quarters of the way through RE 3 but never finished it. That is neither here nor there though. The point is that Resident Evil is back in a big way and I hope it keeps building on the success of the past six years.

Not only did Capcom rejuvenate Resident Evil but it did so with Devil May Cry too. Six years after the release of DmC: Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 5 came out to positive reviews. The people were happy with the game as far as I can tell because it returned to its roots while also building upon its legacy. That and it was also just a fun character action game. I’ve played a little bit of it but, true to form, I didn’t finish it. Again, the point is that Devil May Cry 5 was both a success and well-regarded by fans which helped Capcom regain some of its reputation.

And what about Street Fighter, I hear you asking. Well, calm down, I was getting to it. Capcom just recently (as in a few months ago) brought that series back as well with the release of Street Fighter 6. As far as I can tell, people are having a good time with that game and it has washed away a lot of the bad taste left by Street Fighter V. I don’t play fighting games so I wouldn’t know if it’s any good. As with Resident Evil and Devil May Cry, Street Fighter is back in everyone’s good graces along with Capcom itself.

I haven’t mentioned that while all of this was happening, another Capcom franchise was becoming a massive hit. While it is a two-decade old series at this point, it really started gaining steam on the Nintendo 3DS but also found success on PC, PS4, and Xbox One and on the Nintendo Switch. I’m talking about Monster Hunter, of course. Monster Hunter is, by far, Capcom’s most popular series at the moment. My proof is that both Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise are the company’s bestselling games of all time and they both came out within the past five years. People love these games a lot and the numbers reflect that.

Needless to say (at least I hope so), there aren’t many people, if at all, who still call Capcom “Crapcom” today. The company’s main franchises are selling like hotcakes while being critically acclaimed to boot. I for one am happy that everyone is happy that their favorite game series’ are back and better than ever and that Capcom is back in everyone’s good graces. Now that we’ve come this far, I must reveal the true point of this article. That’s right, all of what I’ve written so far has been a prelude to my true intentions. I came here today to ask a simple question and that question is this: where the fuck is the next Ace Attorney game, Capcom?

I first played the Ace Attorney series when Capcom released the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy back in 2019. This collection included the first three games in the series in one package and I loved it. I loved it so much that I have played through it twice. That’s right, twice! Not only that but I bought a Nintendo 2DS XL just so I could play through the rest of the series. I even bought a copy of Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth for the DS. Capcom still hasn’t released that game’s sequel in English by the way. I’m still waiting for that.

I will acknowledge that Capcom did us Ace Attorney fans a solid by releasing The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles in English for the first time two years ago. I ate those two games up in case you were wondering. It showed that Capcom could make engaging Ace Attorney games with new characters. I loved those two games in that collection. Unfortunately for me, that was the last we heard from the series. Just as an aside, Capcom is re-releasing the second trilogy of the Ace Attorney games on modern consoles early next year.

Which brings us back to Capcom as a whole. I am glad that everyone’s favorite franchises have come roaring back to life but I have watched this Capcom revival with a bit of jealousy because my favorite series has been left out in the cold (outside of remasters that is). And don’t tell me that Capcom can’t make a new Ace Attorney game. Those games are popular to this day and, not only that, but making one of these games cost a fraction of what games cost to make in the Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, or Monster Hunter franchises.

I am glad Capcom has regained its status as one of the best developers out there. Truly, I really am. What would make them even better in my mind is if they threw me a bone and released a brand new Ace Attorney game. Heck, I would take an English release of the sequel to Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth. Until that day comes, however, I will continue sitting here looking forlornly out the window patiently waiting for the return of Phoenix Wright and company.

Thanks for reading! Do you agree with me that Capcom has turned things around? Are there any franchises you would like to see Capcom bring back? Let me know down below!