EXCLUSIVE: CAPCOM Aims to Expand its Brands Further in Southeast Asia

Renowned publisher and developer Capcom has been strengthening its presence in Southeast Asia as of late, from establishing a Singapore subsidiary to its notable recent debut at gamescom asia 2023.

Behind some of the most highly acclaimed titles recently such as Monster Hunter™ Rise: Sunbreak, Street Fighter™ 6, and Resident Evil™ 4, the attention from fans toward Capcom is certainly at a high point and its establishment of a Singapore branch did catch Southeast Asian fans by surprise.

We were fortunate to have a golden opportunity to have a conversation with Bian Li (Ricky), the Managing Director of Capcom Singapore as we discussed Capcom’s presence in Southeast Asia and what the future holds.

Capcom Singapore 

When asked about the time since its establishment, Ricky noted that Capcom Singapore’s primary focus “has been on building a team and establishing a stronger foundation for operations.”

Of course, Southeast Asian Capcom fans are certainly excited about the publisher’s establishment of a Singapore office and have gained a level of expectations from the news. Capcom’s establishment of a Southeast Asian subsidiary has key goals in mind and that is to expand its brands in the region.

“Establishing a presence in Singapore helps us to better understand and cater to the Southeast Asian gaming market. Through localized marketing strategies, partnerships, and collaboration tailored to this region, we aim to build a stronger connection with the gaming community in Southeast Asia.”

“The Singapore office functions as a central hub for supporting Southeast Asia, in providing swift information dissemination within the industry. Gamers can expect to see more of our events and participation in regional gaming conventions such as gamescom asia. We are also engaging more with Southeast Asian gamers through social media or other platforms.”

Street Fighter & Esports Events

Fighting games have always been known for their competitive natures. As the creator of Street Fighter, one of the biggest franchises in the genre, Capcom is no stranger to the esports scene especially with its Capcom Pro Tour tournament series.

As part of gamescom asia 2023, Capcom organized the Capcom Pro Tour 2023: Singapore Offline Premiere tournament with major success as we see fans around the world joining in and rooting for their favorite players to be crowned champion.

This shows that there is a strong following in Southeast Asia for the Street Fighter esports scene and fans would hope to see more tournaments and activation events in the region. To that, Ricky thanked the passionate fans and their support for Capcom Pro Tour 2023’s success and said “Yes, we will have more esports events and activation events in SEA countries.”

Monster Hunter 

The Monster Hunter series has always been quite a popular franchise in Southeast Asia even before the release of Monster Hunter World, which saw worldwide success and shot the IP to mainstream popularity. While growing up, I would see many of my schoolmates rocking their PSP as they chatted about hunting their next big target so it was a surprise to find out that the series was considered niche outside of Japan.

Considering how big the Monster Hunter series has grown and how popular it is in Southeast Asia with many fans longing for local co-op experiences like those in past handheld titles, we asked Ricky if we could expect more community events for the series.

Ricky mentioned that Capcom has always been aware that there is a huge fan base for Monster Hunter in the SEA region. Before the establishment of a Singapore branch, there was a physical distance between Japan and Southeast Asia that made organizing events difficult, but things have changed.

“The establishment of our business in Singapore means we can now organize community events in the SEA region. So expect to see more of our events and participation in gaming conventions as we engage more with Southeast Asian gamers.”

Merchandise

When it comes to entertainment media, merchandise tends to play a big part in an IP’s success and this applies to video games as well. Many game-related merchandise can be difficult to obtain in Southeast Asia due to the lack of accessible authorized shops to purchase them, especially when it comes to series from Japan.

Considering that many Japanese companies and franchises such as Nintendo and Naruto have held pop-up stores and events in Southeast Asia, we wondered if Capcom has any plans to expand its merchandise catalog to the Southeast Asia market such as official online retailer and pop-up stores.

Ricky noted that there are indeed considerations and said “We hope to foster a passionate and engaged community around our IPs through merchandise.”

“As merchandise serves as a direct connection to our game IPs and can become collectibles to fans, we will continue to explore ways to expand our merchandise in Southeast Asia, not limited to online or offline stores.”

Southeast Asian Gaming Market

Aside from Capcom, there has been a surge of signs of Japanese companies expanding their presence in Southeast Asia, from many games receiving localizations of Southeast Asian languages to publishers’ participation in gaming conventions.

With more and more Japanese companies branching out to Southeast Asia, we asked Ricky about his opinion on the gaming market in the region and what are the growing opportunities.

“The gaming market in Southeast Asia holds substantial growth opportunities, particularly driven by the enthusiasm of young people, a high growth rate of revenue-to-gamer ratio, and the vast future potential of the region,” said Ricky.

“With some countries as emerging markets, this presents untapped opportunities as well. The youthful demographic not only fuels the current growth but also indicates a sustainable demand for gaming content in the future.”

He also mentioned that the ongoing emergence of esports as a mainstream form of entertainment also presents exciting opportunities for Capcom.

Here concludes the interview. We would like to thank Ricky for taking the time to answer our questions with insightful answers and Capcom Singapore for this wonderful interview opportunity.

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