Capcom has announced the establishment of Beeline Interactive, a new branch of subsidiaries dedicated to developing and distributing social games for smartphones.
The company noted that the move comes after what it describes as a "particularly fast change of pace in the mobile game market", with the number of smartphones in use expected to surpass the number of personal computers in 2012.
"Growth of the smartphone platform is driven primarily by the popularity of social games, which account for about half of the smartphone game market," the company said in a statement.
"As a result, the key to achieving growth of the mobile game business is to focus on social games for smartphones on a global scale."
Capcom is looking to capitalize on the success of its North American and European subsidiaries, both of which have released freemium social games for smartphones. Smurfs' Village in particular was the top-grossing game in 55 countries on Apple's App Store at its peak popularity.
Beeline Interactive is set to be Capcom's second brand, differentiated from the main Capcom brand, as the social games it will develop are "very different from Capcom's conventional video game operations".
A number of Capcom subsidiaries will also be renamed. Capcom Interactive, Inc. will now be known as Beeline Interactive, Inc., while Capcom Interactive Canada, Inc. will be named Beeline Interactive Canada, Inc.
The company plans to maximise the number of social gaming titles it releases by centering the operations in North America, allowing it to introduce more titles worldwide.
"Beeline Interactive Japan plans to establish a reputation as a pioneer in targeting opportunities created by the expected growth in the use of high-performance mobile devices in Asia, " said Capcom. "The central goals are establishing the "Beeline" brand in Asian markets and increasing earnings from "Beeline" products."
