Game studio
Capcom
Capcom is among the most legendary Japanese game publishers and developers of all. For retro gamers it is a name associated with the absolute top of the craft of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras: precise controls, uncompromising difficulty, and a visual style that ages only with grace. Whether it is the robot action of the Mega Man series, the brutal platformers Ghosts 'n Goblins, or the fighting-game genre that Capcom practically defined thanks to Street Fighter, this is a studio whose classics still belong among the very best you can play on an old console.
History
The company came into being in Osaka in 1979 under the name I.R.M. Corporation and devoted itself to manufacturing electronic gaming machines. Under the name Capcom — an abbreviation of "Capsule Computers" — it began operating in 1983, when it threw itself fully into arcade cabinets. Soon came hits like 1942 (1984) and above all Ghosts 'n Goblins (1985), a gritty platformer with the knight Arthur that became a symbol of fair but merciless difficulty.
With the arrival of home consoles, Capcom quickly grasped the power of the new platform. On the NES it released the Mega Man series, whose second installment from 1988 is to this day considered by many to be the peak of the entire 8-bit era. Alongside its own brands, Capcom also shone with licensed titles based on Disney — DuckTales and Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers are among the most beloved games on the NES precisely thanks to Capcom's feel for platformer design. The 16-bit era brought further gems: to the SNES arrived Mega Man X, which recast the series into a faster and darker form, and the polished sequel to the hellish challenge, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts. On the same console appeared also the atmospheric action game Demon's Crest and the Japanese RPG Breath of Fire II, while owners of the Sega Mega Drive could enjoy a great port of Ghouls 'n Ghosts.
The real revolution, however, was set off by the year 1991 and the arcade Street Fighter II. The game ignited a worldwide fever of versus fighting games, and Capcom became the absolute number one in this field. From it grew dozens of variations and spin-offs, among them the later Street Fighter Alpha. The studio capped off the 1990s on consoles like the Sega Saturn, PlayStation (to which arrived, for instance, Mega Man X4 and X5), and above all the Sega Dreamcast, on which Capcom developed its crossover fighting games.
Key figures
Behind the birth of the firm stands entrepreneur Kenzo Tsujimoto, who founded Capcom and led it for decades. But the face of the classic era is above all Tokuro Fujiwara, a designer and producer who created the Ghosts 'n Goblins series and had a hand in many early hits. Among the legends belongs Akira Kitamura, lead designer of the first Mega Man, who defined the form of the blue robot.
An inseparable part of the brand became illustrator Keiji Inafune, the longtime face of the Mega Man series, who worked on it from the early installments and led it into the modern era. In the area of fighting games, producer and designer Noshige Funamizu stood out, along with the team around Street Fighter II led by Akira Nishi. The audio side was enriched by a number of composers gathered in the internal group Alph Lyla; the iconic soundtrack of Mega Man 2 was composed by Takashi Tateishi. These creators imprinted upon Capcom's games a characteristic signature that fans recognize at first sight and first listen.
The present
Capcom still exists in 2026 and is doing better than almost ever — it is among the most successful and profitable Japanese publishers. It still resides in Osaka and remains an independent, publicly traded company; the firm is led by Haruhiro Tsujimoto, son of the founder. The studio today stands on strong pillars, among which stands out the phenomenal Monster Hunter series, whose roots reach precisely into the era that retro gamers remember, for instance, from the title Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on the PSP. Alongside it, brands like Resident Evil, Street Fighter (whose newest installment is among the pillars of the competitive scene), and Devil May Cry run at full throttle.
Importantly, Capcom actively tends to its rich history and has not tucked it away in a drawer. It regularly releases collector's collections and remasters of its classics — from the Mega Man Legacy Collection through Ghosts 'n Goblins anthologies to fighting-game compilations — so the legends described above are easily accessible to a new generation of players. For a lover of retro this is a rare combination: a studio that made history and yet to this day honors its own legacy.
Games by the studio (261)
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Ghosts 'n Goblins · 1986
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1943: The Battle of Midway · 1987
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Bionic Commando · 1988
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Ghouls 'n Ghosts · 1988
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Mega Man 2 · 1988
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Final Fight · 1989
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Strider Hiryu · 1989
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Sweet Home (fan překlad EN) · 1989
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U.N. Squadron · 1989
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1941: Counter Attack · 1990
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Code Name: Viper · 1990
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Gargoyle's Quest · 1990
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Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers · 1990
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Magic Sword · 1990
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Mega Man 3 · 1990
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Mega Man X2 / X3 · 1990
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Captain Commando · 1991
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Knights of the Round · 1991
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Mega Man 4 · 1991
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Street Fighter II · 1991
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Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts · 1991
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The King of Dragons · 1991
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The Little Mermaid · 1991
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Gargoyle's Quest II · 1992
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Mega Man 5 · 1992
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Cadillacs and Dinosaurs · 1993
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Disney's Aladdin · 1993
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Goof Troop · 1993
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Mega Man 6 · 1993
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Mega Man IV · 1993
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Mega Man X · 1993
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Mighty Final Fight · 1993
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The Punisher (Capcom) · 1993
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Alien vs. Predator (Capcom) · 1994
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Armored Warriors · 1994
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Breath of Fire II · 1994
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Demon's Crest · 1994
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Mega Man: The Wily Wars · 1994
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X-Men: Children of the Atom · 1994
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Marvel Super Heroes · 1995
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Mega Man 7 · 1995
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Mega Man X2 · 1995
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Mega Man X3 · 1995
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Mega Man: The Power Battle · 1995
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Resident Evil · 1996
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Street Fighter Alpha 2 · 1996
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Street Fighter Alpha 2 / 3 · 1996
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X-Men vs. Street Fighter · 1996
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Breath of Fire III · 1997
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Mega Man 8 · 1997
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Mega Man Legends · 1997
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Mega Man X4 / X5 · 1997
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Vampire Savior · 1997
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Magical Tetris Challenge · 1998
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Marvel vs. Capcom · 1998
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Rockman & Forte · 1998
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Street Fighter Alpha 3 · 1998
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Dino Crisis · 1999
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Makaimura for WonderSwan · 1999
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Power Stone · 1999
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Power Stone 1 & 2 · 1999
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Resident Evil 3: Nemesis · 1999
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Street Fighter · 1999
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Breath of Fire IV · 2000
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Dino Crisis 2 · 2000
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Marvel vs. Capcom 2 · 2000
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Mega Man 64 · 2000
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Mega Man Legends 2 · 2000
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Mega Man Xtreme · 2000
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Power Stone 2 · 2000
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Resident Evil Survivor · 2000
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Resident Evil: Code Veronica · 2000
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Rockman Battle & Fighters · 2000
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Super Puzzle Fighter II X · 2000
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Breath of Fire · 2001
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Capcom vs. SNK 2 · 2001
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Devil May Cry · 2001
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Final Fight One · 2001
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Gyakuten Saiban · 2001
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Mega Man Xtreme 2 · 2001
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Onimusha: Warlords · 2001
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Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney · 2001
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Resident Evil Gaiden · 2001
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Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO · 2002
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Genma Onimusha · 2002
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Maximo: Ghosts to Glory · 2002
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Mega Man & Bass · 2002
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Mega Man Battle Network 3 · 2002
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Resident Evil 0 · 2002
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Steel Battalion · 2002
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Devil May Cry 2 · 2003
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Dino Crisis 3 · 2003
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Mega Man X: Command Mission · 2004
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Monster Hunter · 2004
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Onimusha 3: Demon Siege · 2004
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Onimusha: Blade Warriors · 2004
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Resident Evil Outbreak · 2004
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Haunting Ground · 2005
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Mega Man Maverick Hunter X · 2005
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Monster Hunter Freedom · 2005
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Dead Rising · 2006
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Mega Man Powered Up · 2006
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Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams · 2006
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Monster Hunter Freedom 2 · 2007
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Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition · 2007
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Devil May Cry 4 · 2008
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Monster Hunter Freedom Unite · 2009
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Resident Evil 5 · 2009
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Street Fighter IV · 2009
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Monster Hunter Tri · 2010
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Super Street Fighter IV · 2010
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Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 · 2011
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Dragon's Dogma · 2012
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Resident Evil 6 · 2012
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Resident Evil: Revelations · 2012
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Street Fighter X Tekken · 2012
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Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate · 2013
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Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate · 2014
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Monster Hunter Generations · 2015
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Resident Evil Revelations 2 · 2015
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- PS4
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Street Fighter V · 2016
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Resident Evil 7: Biohazard · 2017
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Monster Hunter: World · 2018
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Devil May Cry 5 · 2019
- PS5
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Resident Evil 3 · 2020
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Monster Hunter Rise · 2021
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Resident Evil Village · 2021
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Resident Evil 4 VR Mode · 2023
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Street Fighter 6 · 2023
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Dragon's Dogma 2 · 2024
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Monster Hunter Wilds · 2025