Capcom's name comes from capsule computers, arcade machines of the early 1980s
The company behind Street Fighter and Resident Evil takes its name from Capsule Computers, its term for the arcade machines it built in its early years. The capsule idea was twofold: a game packed with fun, sealed inside a hard shell that kept copycats out. Yet a mahjong game once rescued it.
Kenzo Tsujimoto started the forerunner, I.R.M., in 1979 while still running the arcade firm Irem, and set up Capcom itself on 11 June 1983. Its first products were medal games, and its first arcade video game, Vulgus, arrived in 1984. That year's 1942 was designed with foreign players in mind, and Commando and Ghosts 'n Goblins in 1985 made the name. A home version of 1942 for the Nintendo Entertainment System opened what became its main line of business.
Success was not steady. In the late 1980s Capcom neared bankruptcy, and an unlikely strip mahjong game, Mahjong Gakuen, sold well enough to pull it through. Street Fighter II, released in 1991 and huge in arcades, remains its highest-grossing title, and Resident Evil followed in 1996. Capcom stuck with 2D longer than other big publishers, partly because it had backed the Super Nintendo, and the hand-drawn look became a signature. It even built a miniature automated bowling alley, Bowlingo, in 1990.
The 2000s brought acclaimed 3D hits such as Resident Evil 4 in 2005, but the next decade stumbled. Players felt Resident Evil 5 and 6 abandoned horror for action, Street Fighter V launched thin and missed its sales target, and disc-locked extra content drew anger. Management responded by refocusing on its strongest series and designing for players worldwide rather than chasing Western trends.
Resident Evil 7 in 2017 was hailed as a return to roots, and Monster Hunter: World, made easier to learn, became the best-selling Capcom game as of 2025. A 2020 ransomware attack leaked data on up to 350,000 employees and partners, and an artist's copyright suit arose from files it exposed.
Source: Capcom
