You know what's funny? Bad decisions.... well, bad decisions when someone else makes them... especially bad decisions that you can see coming a mile away. In this case, it was a very bad decision by Capcom to reject publishing Dragon's Crown because the game is selling out in Japan.
Dualshockers caught quotes from 4Gamer, where they interviewed Vanillaware's president and creative director, George Kamitani, who stated that...
“From the start, one of the senior producers at Capcom asked me, “why don’t you make something?” Since I admired Capcom, and they asked what I wanted to make, for many years I had built up the desire to make Dragon’s Crown, so I hurried to propose a plan.“I heard that the planning and evaluation of Dragon’s Crown went reasonably well but unfortunately I was not able to get the final approval. But my mind was made up and I absolutely could not give up. That’s why I got help from Ignition Entertainment and project Dragon’s Crown could finally start.”
After being rejected by Capcom, Kamitani went to UTV Ignition where he also found himself in the line of rejected ideas. It wasn't until they secured financing under Atlus did things finally get underway for Vanillaware and Dragon's Crown, one of the most talked about beat 'em up RPGs of this generation... or any generation.
I find it quite odd that Capcom would be willing to turn down Kamitani, especially considering that Vanillaware comes from an illustrious background of niche successes such as Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade.
However, let's put into consideration that Kamitani's idea comes at a time where Capcom has restructured the way they handle business. Remember, this company is all about milking DLC, pumping out games in quick succession and finding ways to maximize profit on as little operating costs as possible, as they detailed in their company outlook that they released last year.
[[ br. br ]] If Dragon's Crown wasn't going to charge $5 per every palette swap or have an extensive line-up of DLC cash-shop items or an expanded roll-out for microtransactions, then it's no surprise to see Capcom back away from the project. DLC or bust.
Atlus may be in a major financial pickle at the moment, but it hasn't stopped Dragon's Crown from selling out like crazy in Japan, just ahead of its release Stateside. It's rather obvious that Capcom passed up a massive financial opportunity here if Dragon's Crown manages to turn a massive profit once it releases in North America and Europe.
Anyway, Capcom's loss isn't much of a gain for the financially distraught Atlus, but it is a showcase of monetary gain they won't be getting their hands on due to the poor decision making of their executives. In the end, we don't really care which publisher publishes what game (well, unless it's from EA or Capcom and it involves DLC) but we do care that the game is actually released and does well enough to garner the developer an opportunity to continue on their road of success. It looks like Dragon's Crown could pave a further road of success for Vanillaware if the sales in West match the sales in the East.
For more information be sure to pay a visit to the game's official website. Dragon's Crown is set for release on PlayStation systems this August.
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