The deal has yet to be finalized, and both parties are unable to discuss it publicly, but reports are trickling out of Japan that Sony is in active talks to purchase Kadokawa, a multimedia conglomerate that includes Acquire, co-developer of the Octopath Traveler games, Spike Chunsoft, the noted visual novel developer behind Dragonrapa, andFromSoftware, the famous developer behindElden RingandDark Souls. If the sale goes through,Sony, which already has a small stake in FromSoftware, will become the developer’s majority owner.There’s no telling how this could impact future FromSoftware releases as of yet, but notably, Sony has been slow to bring first-party titles to PC, which means any future Dark Souls or Elden Ring games could be PlayStation-exclusive for up to one year.
FromSoftware Launches Ambitious Recruitment Drive for Multiple Upcoming Projects
Kadokawa has gone through ups and downs and so the timing of the acquisition makes sense, coming a few months after the company’s CEO had to resign due to an Olympic bribery scandal. It’s similar toMicrosoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard, which began when California filed a massive sexual harassment lawsuit against the company.When word of the Sony acquisition got out, Kadokawa’s stock price hit an all-time highon the Japanese stock market, moving 23% in just a few hours. It’s not only bringing in FromSoftware that has appeal to Sony, but also Kadokawa’s anime library, which includes Delicious in Dungeon, a hit anime available on Netflix, and not the Sony-owned Crunchyroll. FromSoftware may get the attention of PlayStation owners, but this acquisition has just as much, if not more, to do with access to the anime and manga library.
The Relationship Between FromSoftware And Sony
FromSoftware and Sony have had a strong working relationship for decades, notably the original release of Demon’s Souls on the PlayStation 3, back when it was considered a highly experimental and risky game to bring to the market. Later, Bloodborne was another PlayStation exclusive FromSoftware game, that to this day, has yet to come to PC and the Xbox consoles.In 2022, months after the release of Elden Ring, Sony purchased 14% of FromSoftware,with 16% going to Tencent, the Chinese media conglomerate that also owns majority stakes in Riot Games and Epic, and the reminder staying with Kadokawa.
If a hypothetical Elden Ring 2, or whatever’s next for the developer, is again a PlayStation-exclusive, it could convince thousands of Souls-like fans to enter Sony’s ecosystem.
Elden Ring is back in the news these days, with the recent announcement that its first, and only, expansion The Shadow of the Erdtree has been nominated for Game of the Year in the 2024 Game Awards. FromSoftware’s latest game is also its most successful, sinceElden Ring sold over 25 million copies, and the expansion sold 5 million in its first three days of release. If a hypothetical Elden Ring 2, orwhatever’s next for the developer, is again a PlayStation-exclusive, it could convince thousands of Souls-like fans to enter Sony’s ecosystem. At the same time, this would also bring in more anime franchises under Sony, following the purchase of Funimation earlier this year, further solidifying their hold on the fastest-growing media market on the planet. If the sale goes through, it will shape the future of all FromSoftware games.
Source:Reuters
Elden Ring
