• October 3, 2018
  • Press Release
  • 3-1-3, Uchihiranomachi, Chuo-ku
    Osaka, 540-0037, Japan
    Capcom Co., Ltd.
    Haruhiro Tsujimoto, President and COO
    (Code No. 9697 First Section of Tokyo Stock Exchange)

Mega Man Series Character Utilized in Osaka Prefectural Police’s
Cyber-Crime Prevention Awareness Campaign for the First Time!

– Capcom aims to contribute to deterring cyber-crime
with popular IP loved throughout the world –

Capcom Co., Ltd. (Capcom) today announced that Mega Man will be utilized for the first time as the mascot on promotional goods in the Osaka Prefectural Police’s cyber-crime prevention awareness program.

Since Mega Man debuted on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987, the series secured its position as one of Capcom’s major brands, boasting cumulative sales of 32 million units worldwide (as of June 30, 2018). Mega Man gained a following due to the challenging gameplay that contrasted with the memorable design of its characters; in the 30 years following its launch, the series has spawned numerous spin-offs, which altogether still enjoy the support of a deeply passionate fan base, consisting of everyone from younger players to hardcore gamers alike. Further, the Mega Man brand has been utilized in a wide variety of mediums around the globe, such as in character merchandise, comic books, animated television shows and movies. Mega Man 11, the newest title in the series, was released on October 2, 2018 in North America and Europe and will be released on October 4 in Japan.

Since 2013, Capcom has worked with Osaka Prefectural Police as well as with the police forces of neighboring prefectures each year to implement crime prevention awareness campaigns. In the first half of 2018, more than 2.9 million internet users in Japan were led to "fishing sites" designed to trick visitors into giving up personal information, such as passwords or credit card numbers, to others posing as legitimate organizations. This represents a massive increase of 2.7 times compared to the number of victims in the same period of the previous year, and the largest such figure since the first half of 2014.

This year, the key visual from Mega Man 11, the latest title in the Mega Man series, was selected by the Osaka Prefectural Police and the Osaka Anti-Credit Card Fraud Liaison Council to be used on promotional items to raise awareness of the campaign, including posters as well as stickers and memo pads. Capcom looks to support crime prevention activities in Osaka and throughout Japan with the distribution of 50,000 flyers at prefectural police departments and at the "Cyberspace and Real Space Crime Prevention Collaboration Campaign," scheduled to begin on October 8, as well as with 3,000 stickers scheduled to be distributed at crime prevention awareness events.

Capcom is committed to serving as a responsible corporate citizen and will continue to conduct proactive CSR activities that include the use of its games to invigorate communities and contribute to society.

[Goods to be distributed] *Images represent work in progress


Flyer design

Sticker design

Memo pad design (page)

[Incidents of internet users being led to fishing sites in Japan (as of June 30, 2018)]

2014
First Half
2014
Second Half
2015
First Half
2015
Second Half
2016
First Half
2016
Second Half
2017
First Half
2017
Second Half
2018
First Half
409,201 1,362,667 1,195,197 871,497 751,902 1,102,423 744,129 1,060,909 2,902,247

*Created with data gathered from Trend Micro’s "Security Roundup for the First Half of 2018"

[Game: Mega Man 11]

1. Title Mega Man 11
2. Genre Action
3. Platform PlayStation®4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PC
4. Release Date Japan: October 4, 2018
Asia: October 3, 2018
North America/Europe: October 2, 2018

*"PlayStation" is a registered trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
* Nintendo Switch is a trademark of Nintendo Co., Ltd.
* Xbox One is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.