The story of Monster Hunter Wilds' meteoric success has a new chapter, as a longtime series producer has been pushed up the corporate ladder to a bigger job at publisher-developer Capcom.
Starting on April 1, Monster Hunter producer Ryozo Tsujimoto will become Capcom's chief product officer in charge of development divisions, the corporation has announced. Ryozo Tsujimoto has worked at Capcom since 1996. He's the son of Capcom founder and CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto, and younger brother of Capcom President and COO Haruhiro Tsujimoto.
Ryozo Tsujimoto has been a longtime champion of the Monster Hunter series, working as a steadily more senior producer on the series since 2007's Monster Hunter Freedom 2.
Ryozo Tsujimoto has been a public and behind-the-scenes advocate for the once-niche Monster Hunter series as it grew from small Japanese property into Capcom's best-selling game series. Unlike his older brother, he has remained close to the development side of games rather than the business one.
"I still get involved in gameplay aspects. I’m not just a suit," he told The Guardian in a 2008 interview around the release of Monster Hunter: World.
From the elevation to a loftier position, it's clear that the business side of Capcom is willing to believe in Ryozo Tsujimoto's vision for what a good game is as well—after all, it's under his tenure that Monster Hunter has become a global hit.
Monster Hunter Wilds is Capcom's fastest-selling game ever, with more than eight million copies sold in just three days.
