As previously reported, Capcom are putting an increased focus on internal development as opposed to outsourcing, in light of what they feel is a “decline in quality due to excessive outsourcing”.
Outsourcing is a common measure to cut down on development costs, so it would be natural to assume that moving more development in-house would be a significantly more expensive proposition. However, Capcom say that this won’t be the case, in a financial results Q&A.
“Bringing development in-house will not increase development costs,” Capcom said to those in attendance at the Q&A session. “We believe that, by being able to achieve clarity in scheduling and in budgetary control, and by aggressive hiring of new graduates and the effective deployment of the existing human resources within the company, we will be able to maintain roughly the same level of cost performance.”
“Furthermore, we aim to enhance the cost efficiency, not just in development, but for the company as a whole, by making progress with a comprehensive process of operational improvement and restructuring by reinforcing our overseas sales and marketing structure to complement this improvement in the efficiency of the development structure.”
Capcom also stated that they don’t foresee next generation consoles leading to an increase in development costs, as they believe that improving the efficiency of their development structure and making use of their new in-house engine, Panta Rhei, will help offset an increase in development expenses.
