The COVID-19 pandemic has been especially harsh on certain aspects of the video game industry. Shifting a massive office to remote work is no simple, nor cheap matter. Capcom is one studio that was heavily impacted by the pandemic, leading to significant delays in its plans. Since 2020, Capcom has come back stronger year after year, increasing game releases as well as sales. According to Capcom's financial reporting, 2023 looks to continue and expand that trend significantly.
Capcom's unit sales plan for fiscal year 2023 shows that the game publisher not only plans to release significantly more new games in the next year, but also that sales will follow. While it's unclear if Capcom will have regained its footing compared to pre-2020, it's nevertheless predicting unit sales to increase over 40% compared to the first year of the pandemic. That increase comes in large part due to a substantial increase in new titles to be launched this year.
In fiscal year 2020, Capcom released 35 new titles. That includes SKUs, so different versions of the game for different platforms, rather that unique game releases. In 2021, that number decreased to 14. In 2022, it was 24. These lower numbers were all but certain to have been due to the COVID-19 pandemic increasing the amount of time necessary for every area of game development. In 2023, Capcom plans to ship 45 new titles.
As for what Capcom plans to deliver in 2023, the one new release confirmed right now is Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, an expansion for the PC/Switch RPG. That leaves a significant number of titles yet to be confirmed for the upcoming year. Possibilities include the recently announced Exoprimal co-op multiplayer game, the Capcom Fighting Game Collection, and the sci-fi action-adventure game Pragmata. Resident Evil Village DLC is also on the way. Beyond that, the possibilities branch into speculation.
If Capcom fans let their imaginations run wild, it's easy to think of exciting possibilities. Street Fighter 6 is a long-rumored game that could launch in the next 12 months, as is a potential sequel to Dragon's Dogma. Other games included in the massive Capcom leak from late 2020 planned for 2022 and 2023 include Mega Man Match, a Resident Evil 4 Remake, Monster Hunter 6, and Resident Evil Apocalypse.
What Capcom's plans are for the months between April 2022 and March 2023, only Capcom knows. The pandemic has altered the game publisher's plans in ways that are unclear. What is clear is that Capcom will be releasing a number of games, many of which haven't been announced yet. Further, Capcom expects them to be very successful, in a way that Capcom's top releases of the past several years have been. It's going to be an exciting year for Capcom fans.