UNPROFITABLE CONTENT: Why CAVE Doesn't Make Arcade Shoot Em' Ups Anymore :-(

Electric Underground Podcast

UNPROFITABLE CONTENT: Why CAVE Doesn't Make Arcade Shoot Em' Ups Anymore :-( Today I am digging into a question that has come up ever since I began playing shoot em' ups (shmups) as to how CAVE went from the "most prolific" shooter developer of all time (according to Guinness World Records) to a studio that hasn't made a new arcade game in the past decade. It's going to be a very long, depressing, and interesting journey and today I am doing my best to sort through all the public information I can come across. Most of the data is from financial reports that CAVE make to their shareholders, but I also dug through VGcharts to see the sales data of the Xbox 360 era releases (a high point in most bullet hell players minds). ONE IMPORTANT NOTE is that I do not claim that the information we review in this analysis is 100% accurate. @boghogstg and I did our best to sort through and analyze all the scattered information we could, but these reports are very difficult to interpret and then there could be all these crazy unknown factors that we aren't even aware of. However, I did do the best I could to cross verify the information we came to with stock value data and so forth. So if you watch this video and have more accurate information, please post in the comments and I'm going to make a pinned comments that compiles all updated info. For those new to CAVE, their famous games include: Dodonpachi, Guwange, Ketsui, Deathsmiles, Mushihimesama, Futari, Esp. Ra. De., Espgaluda, Dangun Feveron, Progear, Akai Katana, SaiDaiOujou, DaiOuJou, Dodonpachi Ressurection, and many more! Same CAVE didn't follow a touhou model, but that's the topic of another video. Link to raw data: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BPKoII4JKHGMlpAPkDHInKEsEbxZWot1