December 11^th, 2003 (12:00am) - Mr. Kenzo Tsujimoto, chairman and president of Capcom Co., Ltd., of Japan today announced the appointment of Hiroshi Tobisawa to president, Capcom USA and president, CE Europe, Capcom’s European publishing operation. Mr. Tobisawa is responsible for the overall management of North American and European business operations and will report directly to Mr. Tsujimoto. Under his leadership, Mr. Tobisawa will oversee the activities between the U.S. and European offices to Capcom Japan in order to promote efficient international operations and work closely with Capcom Japan to intensify the development of successful products for U.S. and European consumers.

Hiroshi Tobisawa, 57, joined Capcom in 1997 to lead corporate planning and consumer sales in Japan and was most recently responsible for worldwide marketing for the company. Prior to joining Capcom, Tobisawa worked 27 years at IBM in Japan. There he served as head of technical research and development on the PowerPC semiconductor. He was introduced to the gaming industry while negotiating with 3DO and Panasonic to use IBM’s semiconductor technology in its system.

"I have known Hiroshi Tobisawa for many years and have enormous respect for his management abilities so it is with great honor that I make this appointment," said Kenzo Tsujimoto. "His knowledge of the operations in our Japan office can only strengthen the U.S. and European operations and this exchange of communication can only benefit Capcom. I look forward to a very long and successful relationship with him."

Mr. Tobisawa holds a bachelor’s of arts degree in Economics from Hosei University and a master of business administration from Hosei Graduate School in Tokyo. Mr. Tobisawa replaces Mr. William Gardner who retired in September after serving six years as president and CEO of Capcom USA and president and chairman of CE Europe.