Sales are a big indicator for Capcom in terms of making sequels
Like any business, Capcom is trying to maximize profits and revenue, and the recent uptick in sales for two Marvel vs. Capcom games is an indicator that the franchise has a special place in fan’s hearts and wallets.
Numerous times through the years, Capcom has delivered collections or re-releases to help gauge the community’s interest in following up with another major AAA title, and if recent sales are an indicator, it’s possible we’ll be seeing a new Marvel vs. Capcom entry in the future.
To get a better picture of the story, we should look at the sales for Darkstalkers Resurrection, which were disappointing to Capcom back when it was released in March of 2013.
Former Capcom employee, Yoshinori Ono once joked that fans would need to buy about 4 million copies more to get a new Darkstalkers game made, despite tremendous internal support of the franchise throughout the years.
The bottom line is Capcom uses game sales from their re-releases and collections to gauge overall interest and green light projects — and the fact that the Marvel vs. Capcom series continues to sell well is a big indicator that there could be a new game in the works, in the future.
Ono said back in 2014 that any game that doesn’t sell over 2 million copies will likely have the brakes applied to making a sequel for that project, but Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite has now sold 2.4 million copies.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3’s re-release has sold 2.1 million copies, putting the grand total sales across all releases up to 5.5 million, not including the PlayStation Vita port.
We’ve also gotten confirmation from the company that Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection is selling exactly as planned, which lends even more weight to a potential sequel not being held back by game sales.
One of the biggest complaints against Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite was the lack of X-Men and Fantastic Four characters being available, which should no longer be a hurdle since Disney acquired the rights for them back in 2017.
Looking over all of these past statements from Capcom, plus current sales of the Marvel vs. Capcom crossover series, you can see the stars potentially aligning once again for a new entry.
None of these re-releases would have happened without Marvel’s approval — it’s simply how the process works when dealing with other company’s intellectual property. So it’s clear that Marvel and Capcom’s relationship is still in good standing.
Considering that the Marvel vs. Capcom franchise is very popular right now, sales are good, and previous character rights have been reacquired, it’s entirely possible we’ll be seeing another Marvel vs. Capcom sequel announced in the future.
This is how Capcom has approached things in the past, and Fighting Game Community companies are consistently repeating history.
Source: Event Hubs
