Key things
- Kadokawa reportedly prefers that Sony acquire it completely, including the anime and game assets.
- Negotiations between the parties are progressing despite initial disagreements.
- Sony wants to gain majority control of FromSoftware and potentially improve its first-party offering.
Amid growing talk of Sony acquisitions, a new report claims so FromSoftwareKadokawa Corporation's largest shareholder prefers a full buyout by the PlayStation maker over any other arrangement. In other words, the Japanese entertainment giant reportedly wants a potential takeover to include not only its gaming assets—like FromSoftware—but also various other assets across different business verticals.
There has been a lot of news in a short amount of time since the first rumors that Sony wanted to acquire Kadokawa went viral. For starters, FromSoftware's parent company has since released a public statement officially confirming Sony's interest in the company's stock. While this sent certain FromSoftware fans into a frenzy about the future of the studio's games on non-Sony platforms, it ultimately helped push Kadokawa's stock price higher. New information is now available on favorable conditions for the acquisition of the publishing house.
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According to Bloomberg, FromSoftware's owner Kadokawa Corporation wants Sony to either acquire it “entirely,” including its extensive anime and manga libraries, or “not at all.” This reportedly conflicts with the PlayStation maker's original plan to spin off purchases of its anime and gaming interests from Kadokawa's diverse portfolio. The source also revealed that the current stage of negotiations between the interested parties is “encouraging” after a long period of disputes over the “level of commitment” to the takeover.
Sony's acquisition of FromSoftware Parent would offer more say in this
Still in 2022, Sony secured 14.09% of the shares Elden Ring developer FromSoftware and became its third largest shareholder behind Kadokawa with 69.66% and Tencent with 16.25%. However, if the rumored acquisition were to go through, it would bring over 83% of the Hidetaka Miyazaki-led studio's shares to owner PlayStation. This change would effectively make Sony the majority shareholder, opening up a more promising avenue of influence over the company Dark souls creator.
Given FromSoftware's very impressive track record of titles over the past decade or so, during which two of its games won Game of the Year at The Game Awards, such a takeover could naturally prove to be a game-changer for the console giant. While Sony resists making FromSoftware games exclusive to its consoles, it would still add another award-winning developer to its star-studded lineup of first-party studios that already includes Naughty Dog, Santa Monica Studio, and Insomniac Games. . In addition, a full takeover of Kadokawa would also mean that Sony would gain access to the untapped video game potential of the prolific anime creator of a virtually endless list of IP addresses.
From the software
Based in Japan, FromSoftware is the developer company best known for the Souls series and the Armored Core franchise. Other popular games from From Software include Elden Ring, Sekiro, Bloodborne and the King's Field series.
- Date of establishment
- November 1, 1986
- Headquarters
- Tokyo, Japan
- CEO
- Hidetaka Miyazaki
- Parent company
- Kadokawa
- Known for
- dark souls, Armored Core
