Capcom sent in a press release today mentioning that two new research and development facilities are under construction near the company's main HQ in Osaka.

The appearance of next-generation consoles with a variety of network functions has shifted the focus of sales from conventional package software to digitally distributed content. The profit structure and business model are changing at an increasing speed as a result. Furthermore, the popularity of social games due to the widespread use of smartphones is enabling games to reach more user segments and enlarging the entire game market.

To succeed in this challenging environment, Capcom has been focusing resources on strategic and growing areas under a policy of selection and concentration in order to operate with speed and flexibility. Constructing these new R&D buildings will make game development operations more efficient by centralizing these operations and upgrading speed and control. Another goal is to improve quality while holding down development expenses by accumulating development technologies and other knowledge.

The press release also confirms a previous statement mentioning that the company plans to hire about 100 new developers a year, mostly graduates, raising the share of development done internally as opposed to outsourcing to external studios. The plan is to have 2,500 developers by March 2022.

The new facilities will be ultra-modern and environmentally-friendly. You can see two pictures that came with the press release at the bottom of the post. They will be completed in January 2015 and February 2016.

According to the company, the new facilities will be used to create "highly original games" that will meet the expectations of the users.