Rumor: could Microsoft be buying Capcom next?

This rumor comes from a tweet that was posted on Capcom’s official Twitter account on Valentine’s Day. The rather ominous post features a countdown clock against a stark black background, seems to allude to a major impending announcement.

⏳???? https://t.co/FxZzPqGMvo

— Capcom USA (@CapcomUSA_) February 14, 2022

While many seem to think that the announcement in question – which seems to be set to happen around February 20th – will actually pertain to a Resident Evil 4 remake and/or Street Fighter 6, after a few hours leaks (thus far unsubstantiated) began to circulate that Capcom would be coming under new ownership, specifically Microsoft’s. This “info” comes thanks to the efforts of hackers who got into the countdown sites‘ Javascript.

One twitter account in particular (@chinnerdomain) gave an example of the “evidence.”

BIG SCOOP: hackers have discovered that MICROSOFT will be acquiring Capcom by hacking the JavaScript and RAM on Capcom's countdown. Resident Evil 4 Remake will be announced and is exclusive to Xbox. pic.twitter.com/t4nIBxblAR

— Chinner (@Chinnerdomain) February 14, 2022

Whether any of this can be taken seriously though, is another matter. All of this information could be fake, for all we know. And this doesn’t seem to be the first time rumors of Microsoft buying Capcom have surfaced, as a Destructoid post from around 15 years ago shows. It’s not even clear whether or not such an acquisition would be legally permitted under Japanese law. At any rate, we will have to wait until Sunday to see if there is anything to the rumor or it’s just fluff.