Founded in Japan in 1979 as a manufacturer and distributor of electronic game machines. Since then, Capcom has expanded in all areas of the videogame industry and has offices in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan; Sunnyvale, California; London, England; and Hong Kong, China. Additionally, it leases arcade game machines, and most recently has expanded into amusement facility management with the opening of the Nickel City arcades in the US. Capcom established its US subsidiary, Capcom USA, Inc. in 1985. Capcom is headed up by company president Kenzo Tsujimoto.

The company is best known for its blockbuster franchises like Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Breath of Fire, Dino Crisis and the ever-popular Mega Man series, but continues to produce new products at a rapid rate.

Development of Software is now handled by the seven Japanese Production Studios (See Capcom Production Studios 1-7), one American Studio (Capcom Production Studio 8 -- formerlly known as Capcom Digital), and the wholly owned Subsidirary, Flagship. Before the formation of these studios, all software development was handled by Capcom Co. Ltd. Capcom Entertainment is the distribution and publishing branch of Capcom that releases the games to the public. It is not involved in the development process in any way. Other publishing segments of Capcom include Capcom Asia Co. Ltd and Capcom Eurosoft Ltd.