Capcom to close Clover Studio News

Well that is depressing news.......I thought the quality and originality of their oputput (despite poor sales) would be enough prestige for capcom to keep 'em going!

Hope this doesn't mean capcom are now going to be producing more 'final fight streetwise' type games.........yuk.

Quality and originality? Pah, this is the EA generation.

It seems not enough of us want original games. :(

Considering Okami is a better Zelda it should have sold more.

But no.

So depressed.

"the publisher has included a 400 million Yen loss in its earnings forecast"

That's just over £1.8m of your new English pounds Sterling.

Or, more simply: Ouch!

Very sad, they were easily one of my favourite developers.

They made (mostly) really great stuff. Clover was such a feather in Capcom's cap - you'd have thought they have enough established big-name franchises bringing in money to allow a risky inspirational title from Clover every few years.

At least the Clover people are starting up their own studio now (according to the rumour mill) so here's hoping they can remain as innovative without Capcom picking up the cheques.

"However, in view of promoting a business strategy that concentrates management resources on a selected business to enhance the efficiency of the development power of the entire Capcom group, the dissolution of Clover Studio has been raised and passed at a Board meeting."

Sorry, what?

It really is a shame though. It just reflects upon the tastes of the gaming market though that people just want the same genres again and again. We get people in Game asking for FIFA and Scarface and "The next GTA" all the time. No-one for Okami or anything like that though.

Saw the news and was pretty shocked. One question it does leave though is "What happens to Okami?". It's still not released in Europe! Is it canned or are we still going to get it in February (guesswork on release dates)?

this won't effect the okami euro release i hope... :(

A moment of silence for originality, please.

/sniff

That is terribly sad news. Hopefully the guys at Clover will be absorbed into Capcom as a whole and be allowed to continue developing...

Or maybe not. One of Capcom's most successful games recently was Dead Rising and the demo for Lost Planet was dl'd a hell of a lot. Is this the beginning of the end for imaginative, innovative and original games from Japan? Will they all now make more Western orientated games, targeted at the 360? I really hope not, but it's possible.

\takes deep breath...

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

They're titles sold real bad? Really?

Clover Studio has met the goal of developing unique and creative original home videogame software

Met the goal, the creation of unique and creative original home videogame software is finished and over. Good to know.

Wow this is a shocker and a half.

I hope this isn't a sign of what's to come from now on, it's really quite depressing that even though they're critically acclaimed titles and such they get closed down.

I'm praying that they can still be Clover at heart while at Capcom because i'm not exactly looking forward to Megaman Legends X Zero Extreme Part 5.

"in view of promoting a business strategy that concentrates management resources on a selected business to enhance the efficiency of the development power of the entire Capcom group"

I read that as "The more unique titles don't sell well. We want to concentrate on less unique stuff that sells well."

A reality, but a pity. Yet another case of "Yes, we all say we want more original games, but when someone makes them we don't buy them". "We" being the game buying public as a whole.

Its a constant problem for this industry. Its customer driven like any consumer facing business. and if people don't buy what you make you have to make something else or go out of business.

I feel disappointed everytime someone slags off or insults a develop for making a seemingly unoriginal sequel or franchise attached game, because a lot of the time that is the type of game that you have to make if you want to be able to stay in business long enough to make anything.

Locoroco is a great example, everyone raved about it, but it actually didn't sell that well. I'm sure there will be a flurry of "I bought it" comments, but those posters won't represent a majority unfortunately. The customer gets what they "ask" for, as always.

problem is that people are thick and buy shit games that are advertised before the simpsons or whatever.. idve hated myself if i missed out on psychonauts for example

/wears black armband

Bad news indeed. Clover was one of the few guiding lights in the game industry

What the..?! I can't believe this. Clover were becoming one of my favourite development studios, and were one of the few developers to bring new ideas and artistically brilliant games. I'm shocked. :(

That is really sad news, for sure. Still, can't wait to see what the individuals working there come up with next.

problem is that people are thick and buy shit games that are advertised before the simpsons or whatever.. idve hated myself if i missed out on psychonauts for example.

Here Here.

How many times as Fifa been constantly panned by the critics and gamers alike yet it's that very football game that sells millions more than Pro Evo.

The only upside i can think of the future in games is those cheap games you can dl from the internet i.e XBL Arcade but the only problem with Arcade is that there isn't enough original content just retro stuff ported to it atm.

I'm hoping Sony go a step further and encourage actual PS3 games to launch on their Sony Connect/Shop or whatever rather than "arcade" titles.

Nintendo has hit the nail on the head in the orignal games department by taking away the traditional controller altogether... but could the Nintendo Wii share the same fate as Original games?

Critically acclaimed doesn't sell well. :/

I'm worried that we won't see enough diversity in next generation as a whole, the amount of FPS on the Xbox 360 and PS3 rival that on the PC platform, and that's not good.

Madness :(

Actually you will see more of this kind of announcement as dev houses realise that Sony's console isn't going to add to their profits for the next year or so.

In light of this (just been in a meeting about something similar) many houses will be scaling down their earnings forcasts and cursing sony under their breaths for the royal screw-up that is PS3

"Actually you will see more of this kind of announcement as dev houses realise that Sony's console isn't going to add to their profits for the next year or so. "

Well, the devs and publishers also have to shoulder some of the blame for propagating a broken business model.

Reading this gives me goose creeps...

Man it's so sad i can't express with words.

But i always wondered how games could get together and fail and they still try to do them right. like when ICO failed they still tried to achieve a succes with Shadow of the Colossus but thats just not working because at core its as unique as the Ico.

And that simple just won't sail The Sims on the other hand >_> i think this is the moment for gamers to do a silencing minut, its sad, its true and its about profit.

I think i be drinking shame drink this afternoon :(

Extremely disappointed.

There's going to be an abrupt change in this industry if things keep going this way. I think the only way to get real games instead of EA shit from now on will be direct internet distribution to people's consoles by small, independent studios.

I am cry :(

There is a market for titles of originality and quality. It's just not that big a market. Companies like Capcom have little interest in having a slice of that particular pie when they can invest their efforts into getting a slice of much bigger pies (ie. the lowest common denominator, sell by the shedload boring crap).
Also, shops have limited shelf space - do they get things like Okami which hardly sell or another couple of dozen copies of the latest EA sports title?

What's needed is smaller publishers who are happy to serve these smaller markets - which is (hopefully) where things like digital distribution can help (see Steam or Introversion with Defcon or Stardock with Galactic Civilizations 2).

Here's to the bedroom coders, may they rise again from the ashes of the 80's and stick one to the EA loving masses by giving us lot the creative originality we want.

"Critically acclaimed doesn't sell well"

That isn't always the case. But its clear that critically acclaimed is no guarantee without the support of other influences such as franchising or big marketing spends.


@penhalion

"Actually you will see more of this kind of announcement as dev houses realise that Sony's console isn't going to add to their profits for the next year or so."

I disagree. This has always been the case. I remember bloody awful arcade ports on the C64 that sold well just because they had a good name attached.


@peterfll

"Well, the devs and publishers also have to shoulder some of the blame for propagating a broken business model. "

At the risk of sounding arsey (I apologise in advance) I have to say that is just rubbish.

The business model works just fine. EA's profits are testament to that. Customers are simply not buying the products, and who are we to blame if we don't buy the games but ourselves?

If we want original titles we have to BUY original titles. If we want less cookie-cutter crap, we have to BUY less cookie-cutter crap. I'm sorry to get stroppy with you,l but it seems that with in one mminute we complain of a "nanny state" and then in the next we say companies are to blame for us buying crap products because we can't make the decisions ourselves. I'm going a bit off tangent, but we need to accept that the nature of games being releasd these days is our (as in, we gamers as a whole) fault. As consumers we have absolute power, so we can't blame anyone but ourselves.

This is neither complex, nor new. Stop buying generic games and devs will stop making them. Start buying unique titles and devs will make more of them. I GUARANTEE IT with every penny I have in my possession (I feel confident in making that statement because history is on my side).

EA should buy them.

"in view of promoting a business strategy that concentrates management resources on a selected business to enhance the efficiency of the development power of the entire Capcom group"

I read that as "The more unique titles don't sell well. We want to concentrate on less unique stuff that sells well."

A reality, but a pity. Yet another case of "Yes, we all say we want more original games, but when someone makes them we don't buy them". "We" being the game buying public as a whole.

Its a constant problem for this industry. Its customer driven like any consumer facing business. and if people don't buy what you make you have to make something else or go out of business.

I read this in exactly the same way. While I think you can blame consumers to an extent, I think the games industry needs to get wise to the fact that something can be of value to your company and the industry at large without it making an enormous pile of cash. Big movie studios fund niche movies even though they know they won't turn much profit. The auto industry spends millions on crazy concept cars that will never make a penny; and big companies like Ford support outfits like Aston Martin when I very much doubt they turn as good a profit margin as the rest of the Ford group.

The point is that it adds prestige to the company, and fosters creativity generally. It might not turn as big a profit as your main franchises, but its the breeding ground for the kind of ideas that are going to keep your main franchises ahead of the competition. Without it, the whole process just stagnates.

How utterly depressing...

Music, film, games - this happens in every entertainment business and it sucks every time.

The fact is if lots of people liked these titles they'd sell well, but they don't. Marketing can help, but it's not entirely to blame for certain titles not selling like hardcore games fans think they should.

Remember GTA3 was original, had hardly very little hype or marketing spend yet went on to become one of the biggest selling games ever.

That comes as a bit of a surprise. I spoke with one of the guys at my local Gamestop a few days after Okami launched. He said it was flying off the shelves, and we had a miniconversation about how nice it was to see something good succeed for a change. Must have been a local phenomenon :(

Well, bye Capcom. Hard to fault you, but Clover made almost all the Capcom games I've ever cared about.

"big companies like Ford support outfits like Aston Martin when I very much doubt they turn as good a profit margin as the rest of the Ford group."

Erm, as far as I was aware the US car industry is in dire straits (they blame the Japanese) and Ford wants to get rid of Aston Martin as it can extract some decent cash.

...

The public buys EA games, reads the Da Vinci code, listens to Coldplay, watches crap Hollywood movies, eats Macdonalds, etc. See a pattern here? I wish we gamers would stop being so sanctimonious when it comes to our hobby. The indignation grates.

I agree that digital distribution is the best way for the minnows to survive.

@PlugMonkey

While I agree with what you say, the sad truth is companies often do dump creativity the moment profits slide.

Ford make massive losses, and they now want to sell Aston Martin despite the fact it turned a profit for just about the first time ever.

Dumping Clover and focussing on derivative games that sell well for EA won't help Capcom solve their biggest problem - the lack of original games with a wide appeal.

@Kanga

I think the business model is broken.

Games cost too much in comparison to DVDs and CDs. The second hand market massively reduces the revenues of developers. Distribution costs way too much and is beneficial to neither the customer or the developer. Personally I would gladly see the second hand market disappear into a big black hole in exchange for a significant reduction in price.

/is shocked

how you can make a game like okami and get closed down is beyond me

I love Okami, it's a wonderful game which may come to be regarded as a classic, but I'm not at all surprised it didn't sell - the art style and subject matter are way too impenetrable for casual buyers to pick up. Once you actually start playing it's a very accessible game, but you need that hook that gets people to pick it up in the first place, whether that's a well-known name, putting more explosions on the cover or whatever...

I would imagine that Okami had a pretty big budget - games like that are almost always going to sell to a relatively niche audience, and the maths just doesn't add up... the film world equivalent would be making an obscure art movie with the budget of Titanic.

It's sad it appears to have sunk Clover - but what a way to go, eh?

@PlugMonkey

"Big movie studios fund niche movies even though they know they won't turn much profit."

This is true, good point. I'm not sure the model compares exactly though. Games are much higher risk than films, to carry on your example. Maybe its the longer history film has, maybe its the sheer volume of customers. But film companies have very tightly defined audience groups and I think that is where the key difference lies.

If a film company makes a hugh blockbuster, they know who will go to see it. If they make a low budget straight to rental film, they know exactly who will rent it. Final Destination is a great example of a franchise that plays to the fans and knows that DVD rental accounts for a huge proportion of its income (although as an example of originality it doesn't really stand up I admit).

With an original game, its much harder to identify who will buy it. Also, games don't have as many niches customer bases as films do (look at any big DVD rental store and you will see films shelved by type, something that is rarely seen in games stores, where things are usually shelved by platform).

Shareware is one type of niche and XBLive is a similar setup, where a lower price point attracts a different purchaser attitude (if not actually a different physical purchaser). But most full price games on physical media end up in the same huge basket as every other full price title.

Going back to your original point. Film companies spread their money about because that is a safer model for what they do. They address each market with a specific brand image (comic companies do this too, and some games companies such as Blitz do as well) and a specific product. For games... I don't think enough is known to make the same model work for us (as the subject of the article perhaps proves).

@lambtron

We probably need to clarify some semantics so we don't get on cross purposes. When I say the business model works fine, I mean that it allows some companies to make consistent profit by churning out unoriginal titles. Not that it necessarily serves the customer in the best way.

"Games cost too much in comparison to DVDs and CDs"

Again, to be specific about my own semantics here, my definition of "costs too much" is that a products costs more than the customer is willing to pay (or perhaps costs so much that they resent the purchase, affecting future possible purchases). If a customer says "that is too expensive" but buys it anyway, then in my book its not actually too expensive at all (which sort of connects to my earlier point about us as customers taking responsibility for our own choices).

"Distribution costs way too much and is beneficial to neither the customer or the developer."

I agree. Maybe a future of digital distribution will help here. Though digitial distribution is far from free and so the balance will take a while to become apparent. Any new system is expensive at first so I wouldn't be surprised if the first few waves of DD aren't much cheaper than physical media (if at all).

"Personally I would gladly see the second hand market disappear into a big black hole in exchange for a significant reduction in price."

I'm with you on that one too, but I am perhaps biased on that front :)

I would say in summary that if we don't buy the games, they won't get made. If we don't buy the games, the business model will change. We can have almost whatever we want, so long as we enforce our opinions when we get out our debit cards rather than just taking whatever is put in front of us.

I blame the gaming media. When original and fun games are released, they don't praise them enough, or pick on minor faults.

I mean look at Dead Rising. Awesome, orginal i.p but all the reviewers could do was bitch about the single save system. It's supposed to be a hard game you twats. do you want everything laid on a plate for you!

If the gaming press didn't continually hype up games which turn out to be shite, I feel like the genuinely better titles would get more recognition.

Nothing original here (like Capcom without Clover OH SNAP), but all this self-flagellation is pretty pointless. It's not that "we" don't buy the good stuff and pass on the bad. We all, obviously, read game review websites, and at least one classy one at that. Most people don't read any reviews, and so aren't affected even a little by any gaming media; they have no idea that IGN exists, let alone EG. It's just plain not enough for "us" to all buy an A-list game. All the money's with Bob Robertson, with his hat on backward in the big box store, buying this year's Madden or Big Sweaty Gun IV. I don't think there's anything we can do about that, so my policy is to just accept that most of "our" releases are going to be B-list and when "we" get an A-list title the developer will immediately sink into a big fish. At least the leaders generally jump ship and start over :)

Stop talking about originality. Look at their portfolio - most of their games were rehashes of Viewtiful Joe. And their latest is God Hand, a generic 3d beat 'em up (WOW!) with "comedic" action bits, whilst still managing to look utterly bland.

Bluetooth.

Okami.

Shut up.

Bluetooth

Man your insane unsane.

Please keep your unjustifying opinions to yourself your miserable little moggle >_>

Uh yeah.... one game. I was referring to the originality badge they've been stuck with since Viewtiful Joe. That, and Okami, followed by 7 VJ rehashes.

Still, nice to know you guys resort to childish moaning when faced with the facts!

Plenty more of these sort of closures / restructuring to come. I agree with the people who say the industry model is broken.

Ten years ago it cost high six-figures / low seven-figures to make your game. Sell half a million copies and it was a solid hit. Nowadays you are talking high seven-figures / low eight-figures (or in many AAA cases way way higher.) Sell 500,000 copies and you are screwed.

At least Clover gave us Okami and Viewtiful Joe. Yes, companies DO make a lot of crap - that's just a fact of industry and it goes for movies and books too, but when you're presented with the likes of Okami in particular - you can forgive the crap they've put out to get to that one sparkling gem of a title.

At least they end their time with Capcom on a rather high note. So few companies get that oppertunity...

stuck with since Viewtiful Joe. That, and Okami, followed by 7 VJ rehashes.

I may be wrong but by my count, there have been 4 viewtiful games; VJ1, VJ2 VJ:RHR and VJ on DS.