Capcom Admits Digital Distribution Is More Important than Retail

Capcom is one of the most talked about companies in the recent few weeks. Following the very successful launch of Street Fighter IV, which is breaking records left and right, the publisher has also announced that it plans to create and release a Lost Planet 2 and one of its main designers talked about how the shift towards the Xbox 360 gaming console from Microsoft helped Capcom become relevant on the Western games market

Now, the strategic planning vice president of Capcom is saying that digital distribution has become more important than selling at retail for all the companies that are creating games for the PC. Talking to Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Christian Svensson said that “Digital distribution on PC ties directly into our strategy. We’re ready on the console side, and we were the first Japanese publisher to do anything on Steam.”

He pointed out that Capcom is one of the most important companies when it comes to revenue drawn from the Xbox Live service from Microsoft, the PlayStation Network and the WiiWare for the Nintendo Wii. Capcom has also joined the PC Gaming Alliance, becoming its sole Japanese partner and declaring its intentions to make sure that it gets all its big releases on the PC.

The PC Gaming Alliance and the various digital distribution services, the most known being Steam, are the tools that can help developers and publishers make more money on the PC by promoting standardized hardware and by making games easy to buy, download and play without the need for a walk to the nearest game store.

Capcom released the remake of Street Fighter II Turbo Remix HD via Xbox Live Arcade and the game became of the most successful releases ever on the service. The title has not become available on Steam, but Capcom would probably prove its commitment to PC gaming by offering this remake via digital distribution. Street Fighter IV is also coming to the PC in June.via softpedia