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MICROSOFT TO BUY CAPCOM, SAY GOSSIPMONGERS
Rumour has just emerged that Rare wasn't the only target when Microsoft sat down with a shed-load of cash and a hunting rifle
18:05 According to senior gossipers in the UK today, Microsoft has been in discussions with Capcom in Japan with the intention of buying the company.
The talk arrives on the back of a set of shaky financials for Capcom, where the Japanese giant wrote off approximately ?0 million in the past year on scaling down company assets.
Capcom is the latest company rumoured to be targeted by Microsoft in recent weeks, after the American behemoth finally admitted it had bought Rare for the "bargain" price of ?40 million.
Current talk is also pinning Sega as a possible buyout opportunity for Microsoft, although chatter on the subject has slowed in the last week.
The talk of Capcom going under the hammer has yet to be substantiated by any sources involved in possible talks. According to Japanese insiders, only two other Xbox games from Capcom have yet to be announced, one of which is a driving title.
The main focus for the Capcom, despite the shifting of Resident Evil to Nintendo hardware, firmly remains PlayStation 2.
More on this in the coming weeks. Feel the power of Microsoft's cash.
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ANOTHER MS BUY CAPCOM NEWS(WWW.SPONG.COM)
Capcom losses spell Microsoft buy-out
27th Sep 2002
Dire losses spark acquisition frenzy.
Following initial financial forecasts of just short of ? million profit for the year ending March 2003, Capcom has now predicted that it expects to lose around ?6 million, sparking intense rumour that a Microsoft buy-out of the firm is on the cards.
Capcom stated that increased operation losses, combined with failed landholding investments are to blame for the situation.
Even before we broke the news of Microsoft’s Rare buy-out, rumours that Xbox staff had been in talks with Capcom had surfaced. It is well known that for a long time Microsoft has been looking for a high-profile Japanese firm to acquire, to the extent of approaching both Sega and Nintendo in the past.
Microsoft needs a Japanese signing of substance to strengthen its offering to the Xbox-apathetic gamers in the region as its machine continues to gain a foothold in the Japanese market, a factor seen as essential for wider commercial success in the games hardware market.
We’ll bring you more on this as it breaks. Remember where you read it first.
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Laatst bewerkt: 27 sep 2002
