From NG user z0m3le
<b>Mobile Developer (gungho for instance):
Do they have the money?
</b>
Yes
What IPs would they use? Considering these developers are mostly one very large run away success, they will likely just use a handful of Capcom IPs (that aren't well suited for mobile) and Monster Hunter, this would be their best bet at something.
Would they close studios? Yes, even the ones they do use, would be drastically reduced in size, this is more about buying their IPs than retaining Capcom.
Is this better for gamers than alternatives? No, this is the worst option, gamers don't get the games they love, they have to play the ones they do get with touch screen controls and Capcom fades into complete irrelevancy.
What does the company gain?
Third Parties:Do they have the money? Most do not, outside of japan however, Activision, EA and Ubisoft probably do.
What IPs would they use? Depends on the 3rd party developer, most would leave everything but Resident Evil, Street Fighter and Monster Hunter alone.
Would they close studios? Yes, I can't see any of the big developers that could afford this, keep anything but essential personnel.
Is this better for gamers than alternatives? No, while these 3 titles would be released on more platforms and thus more players play them, they would most likely be sequels in name only, only give you a very limited library of these games and largely become irrelevant as other clones would start to fill this hole. Every platform holder would offer more for gamers who are willing to buy the device that goes with the name of the company who bought Capcom.
What does the company gain? IPs.
<b>Microsoft:
Do they have the money?
</b>
Yes, silly question.
What IPs would they use? Street Fighter, Dead Rising, RE, Lost Planet. They also might leaverage old IPs.
Would they close studios? Yes, Microsoft would close a lot of Capcom studios, their need to break into the Japanese market is limited by the market itself (consoles don't do well there) other than the IPs they would want to use, the other studios would mostly close.
Is this better for gamers than alternatives? It's better than a mobile developer buying the company, However dead IPs would be plentiful, most studios would close and a death almost as bad as Rare would likely happen thanks to Microsoft's lack of interest in Capcom's IPs.
What does the company gain? Microsoft would gain some strong IPs that have been weakened by bad decisions, overall though, Microsoft's exclusives list grows, as does it's list of legacy IPs such as Megaman.
Sony:Do they have the money? Not really, they could do it, but it would take some liquidation of assets, struggle with board approval and lack clear motivation, as Sony gets plenty of 3rd party support and has a robust 1st party to handle lulls in software releases.
What IPs would they use? Most IPs would see some attention if the development resources exist, Sony would care about retaining a majority of these titles though many wouldn't see the light of day for a long time. Mostly they would be how Capcom has been the last decade.
Would they close studios? Yes, Sony has recently been closing their own studios, they would not pick up the 1200+ developers Capcom has employed. Some teams would stay to finish Sony content already on its way, afterwards, only a few times might survive and only if these Capcom titles give a high return on investment.
Is this better for gamers than alternatives? This IMO is the second best option, Capcom is more or less what it is as a 3rd party, except that it becomes exclusive to Sony hardware, which isn't such a big deal as anything from this deal would materialize at the end of this generation and the beginning of the next regardless. Thus allowing you to buy whichever console that has Capcom games. (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo)
What does the company gain? A huge catalog of IPs comparable directly to Nintendo's, cultivated properly and given enough time and development resources, this could become a very powerful tool for Sony, but I fear they can't afford the resources for this to be anything other than what Microsoft would do with it above, except with the occasional "revival" of older Capcom IPs, at this point we should even be realistically asking ourselves if Sony will release a portable next gen, where smaller titles can find a home.
Nintendo:Do they have the money? Yes, Nintendo is sitting on enough money to buy nearly a dozen Capcoms. (Cash on hand)
What IPs would they use? Nintendo would use nearly every IP Capcom has, Nintendo doesn't have the 3rd parties to fill holes in their genres, so Capcom's titles would largely fill those holes. The genres that Nintendo does cover would also find their home quickly on Nintendo platforms.
-Resident Evil does sell well on Nintendo (RE4, Revelations, ect)
-Street Fighter's fan base is more mobile than the discussion here would leave you to believe, since it is a hard core fan base, with roots in both console and arcade settings and the current fan base is already split between multiple consoles/pc in the form of online play, this might actually be a boon for the series. Nintendo also would likely still release for the arcades.
-Monster Hunter quickly found a home on 3DS.
-Megaman would find it's home on the platforms with platformers coming out every couple months.
-Many other examples exist.
Would they close studios? I would argue no, Nintendo spends a great deal of time shopping around for 3rd parties to bring exclusive content to their console or partner with 3rd parties for their own IP releases in some cases. Nintendo needs the man power, hasn't cut any of it's own developer studios, is hiring/growing in this department and has huge lulls in it's release calendar. For the most part, Capcom's own development teams would remain intact, though they might come under a more strict quality control of Nintendo and they would likely not be putting out different versions of the same game.
Is this better for gamers than alternatives? I would argue yes, this is the best option, Capcom largely keeps it's studios intact, older IPs would revive, more games would be released.
What does the company gain? Nintendo would gain a huge IP list, fill in many of the genres they are lacking, find new audiences, less drought, far more development resources would also mean more creative, new games and IPs.
Obviously I think Nintendo is the best home for Capcom, the large development studios would actually be half the reason for me, Nintendo needs to expand and Capcom has tons of great IPs that Nintendo and Capcom together would make use out of. It would still all be fanboy fantasy if it wasn't for MH though, that series is very important to Nintendo and it's future success in the handheld market. Nintendo I believe will pull the trigger on this simply because they are afraid of losing MH, but in every respect, this makes sense. The IPs make sense, the development resources make sense, the heritage makes sense and from a business perspective, 500 million can be made back by Nintendo through this purchase over a relatively short amount of time.
Nintendo lastly has new hardware on the horizon, devices that will need software to sell, these devices come 2 years after such a thing would happen, thus securing the proper time for software to be developed, so it isn't that Capcom would become exclusive to 3DS and Wii U, but Nintendo's next cycle, E3 2016 when they show off Wii U's successor, they could also reveal RE7 and a slew of other content from Capcom for the first time. This is why Nintendo would be smart to buy Capcom, not simply for the amazing IPs, or the continuing MH titles to Nintendos platforms, but because Nintendo needs the development resources.