Capcom breaches Blue Castle Games

TOKYO--With the upcoming zombie-slaying action game Dead Rising 2, Japanese publisher Capcom decided to do things differently, handing off development reins to Blue Castle Games. The Canadian company was previously best known for the sports title The Bigs, making many wonder whether Capcom had found the right fit for the sequel to its popular undead action game. It seems Capcom has been happy with the results so far, as the publisher announced the acquisition of Blue Castle Games at its pre-Tokyo Game Show event today.

Capcom global head of production Keiji Inafune said Blue Castle would be renamed Capcom Games Studio Vancouver but didn't disclose the financial terms of the deal. "We've reached an agreement, we've shaken hands, and we're moving forward," Inafune said, adding that the acquisition was part of Capcom's global strategy of better targeting Western gamers.

While the fruits of Capcom and the former Blue Castle Games have yielded only one released title so far--the Xbox 360-exclusive Dead Rising 2 prequel Case Zero--the initial results have been positive. Inafune announced some sales figures for the downloadable title, saying it had sold 500,000 units in its first two weeks of release. Dead Rising 2 is due for release globally at the end of September.