Capcom is one of the most well-known video game developers in the industry, with Street Fighter and Mega Man being its requisite "mascot" franchises. Both of these have had their periods of hiatus, but for the most part, they've remained firm fixtures in their company's product catalog. The same can't be said, however, for a few particularly spooky gaming franchises from the Japanese developer.
Onimusha, Dead Rising, Devil May Cry and the fighting game Darkstalkers have all been utterly forgotten by Capcom, with some of these series going without new games for decades. Ironically, another horror game franchise is still alive and well at the company, making the fan desire for these other franchises even stronger.
Darkstalkers, Dead Rising & Onimusha Haven't Received New Games in Years
Beginning in 2001, the Onimusha series was made up primarily of 3D hack-and-slash adventures set in the Sengoku era of Japan's history. Players took on the roles of fictionalized variants of true Japanese figures to wage war against a horde of invading demons. Wielding the demons' own mystical powers through weaponry, these characters could unleash elemental attacks against them. The series had four main entries, a tactical RPG and a fighting game spinoff. Outside a 2019 remaster of the first game, the last major console release in the series was in 2006.
Dead Rising's last game was a bit more recent, with 2016 seeing the release of the zombie-killing good time Dead Rising 4. 2019 was when Devil May Cry V came out, though a huge gap in between releases for this franchise isn't exactly uncommon. What is especially egregious, however, is the fate of the iconic Darkstalkers franchise. Known for the characters Morrigan and Felicia, who guest-starred in various Capcom vs. games, Darkstalkers is essentially Capcom's secondary fighting game franchise after Street Fighter.
Despite that, its final game came out in 1997, and fans have been demanding a sequel for the last few decades. The developer has become regarded for the aforementioned Street Fighter and Mega Man but not too much else. Even amid all these horror franchise hiatuses, there's one horror franchise that Capcom is constantly churning out entries for.
Resident Evil Is Capcom's Only Consistent Horror Series
1996's Resident Evil was a huge success, popularizing zombie games and survival horror as a mainstream genre. Since then, it's remained one of Capcom's biggest successes and has seen games on most consoles in the past two decades. There have not only been several mainline entries but also many spinoffs and adaptations that expand the franchise further. While its monetary success is why Capcom keeps going back to it, some of these other franchises were hits in their own way. Onimusha was actually meant to be a ninja equivalent to Resident Evil before being retooled, but its most apparent modern analog would be Dark Souls, Bloodborne and other similar titles. Given how popular those games are, it's surprising that Capcom hasn't tried to pitch a new Onimusha in the same vein.
Likewise, Dead Rising is similar to Resident Evil in its own way, being essentially a less shooting-oriented comedy version of the franchise. Not having it as an alternative to the more serious zombie franchise is a huge mistake, especially with how popular Frank West became among gamers for a while. As mentioned, newer Devil May Cry games are typically released with long breaks in between, but this doesn't make the wait for a new game any easier. It's only worse given that the similar Bayonetta, a franchise that Devil May Cry's mutual director wanted to do a crossover with, is about to receive its third entry. The series is very much a provocative early-2000s action game, but it still has tons of fans who love that sort of gameplay.
The same goes for Darkstalkers -- with the upcoming Street Fighter 6 taking the franchise in a more urban and arguably realistic direction, it's high time for Capcom to give gamers a new 2D Darkstalkers entry. Like with the other series mentioned, this would create an alternative to another existing Capcom series, allowing the developer to get a firm grip on those gaming genres. The fact that they all have horror-based or supernatural themes is a mere coincidence, but it goes without saying that these franchises would do wonders to expand Capcom's output beyond Robot Masters, Hadokens and Raccoon City.