IR Top Page > Developer Interview 2009 > vol06.Manabu Seko
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Mr. Seko, Can you tell us about your role at Capcom.?
- "Seko"
I'm in charge of managing the development of contents for mobile devices at Capcom Interactive Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Capcom based in Toronto. I'm also responsible for the managing the development of games for mobile devices at Capcom Entertainment Europe Ltd. in London.
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Your company has already risen to fifth in the North American market within three years of beginning operations. It seems you’ve really made rapid progress.
- "Seko"
Though we did not move up in the rankings in 2009, our market share grew from 3.5% to 5.5%. Another promising sign is that the number of downloads also continued to increase, from 7.5 million in 2007 to 10 million in 2008.
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Given the tough market conditions worldwide, do you still expect the mobile market is expanding?
- "Seko"
Up until the last few years, the mobile market maintained an annual growth of 20 to 30%. However, currently growth is leveling off at 0 to 5%. Though the economic downturn has made the market sluggish, the emergence of the iPhone and other smartphones has led to significant changes in the market. A lot of game publishers have dropped out or gone bankrupt because they were unable to keep up with the changing market.
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So that means there are fewer competitors.
- "Seko"
That's true, but that doesn't make things easier. While it may seem that there are fewer competitors in the traditional mobile games market because many have dropped out, the emerging smartphone marketplace (iPhone and Android) has brought about a dramatic increase in the number of overall competitors. The new storefronts that launched with the smartphones have little to no barriers to entry. Consequently, we've seen a lot of small developer or individual developer enter the marketplace.
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Are there any differences between Europe and North America in regards to distributing contents?
- "Seko"
Though the European market is roughly the same size as the North America, the large number of countries means there are many more different kinds of devices in Europe. To accommodate this, we need to put in more time working on the technology for Europe. Compared to North America, where a single carrier covers a user base of over 80 million, there are many smaller carriers that are country-specific, and this is currently making it difficult to turn a profit.
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Do the environments for mobile gaming differ by region?
- "Seko"
Definitely. Where and when people play is different. In Japan people often play games while they are waiting at the station or riding on the train. People living in North America usually commute by car, so they tend not to play mobile games for long periods of time. In Europe most people use public transportation everyday, so in many ways the environment there is similar to that in Japan.
