Capcom and Marvelous are teaming up to “start collaborating in more new business fields,” the two companies announced recently. One of their upcoming collaborations will be an amusement card game machine in Japan, called Monster Hunter Spirits.
Monster Hunter Spirits will use the same worldview as the main Monster Hunter series, and will involve collecting monster cards. The objective of the machine is to help expand Monster Hunter’s appeal among more audiences, including younger children. Marvelous’ role will be to supply its expertise regarding the amusement card game machine market.
This isn’t the first time Capcom and Marvelous have worked together. Capcom have handled sales and distribution for nearly all games released by Marvelous in Japan. Additionally, at the 2014 Tokyo Game Show, Capcom were exhibiting Marvelous’ Forbidden Magna and Bakumatsu Rock Ultra Soul at their booth. The two companies have plans to collaborate further in the future, with projects like jointly developing native apps for smartphones.
Meanwhile, Monster Hunter Spirits, which is currently in development, is planned for release in Spring 2015. The machine’s play fee will be 100 yen or above when it launches. Spirits will join other initiatives meant to promote Monster Hunter awareness among the public, such as the Monster Hunter Gekka Raimei machine, which was released in March 2014 and sold over 50,000 units.
Another initiative, also launched in March 2014, was the “MonHun Sweets Felyne Crepe Shop,” which was meant to attract women and Capcom game fans. As the name suggests, this is a Monster Hunter-themed crepe shop incorporating characters from the games. Capcom said in a recent report that Monster Hunter crepes proved popular with customers visiting the Capcom Plaza Oita where the shop is located, with lines forming for several days in a row.
Photograph courtesy V-Jump magazine.
