Noor Bazmi
Sony is allegedly planning to acquire Japanese media company Kadokawa. The company also owns FromSoftware studio, which developed the Elden Ring blockbuster, Armored Core, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls.
According to a report by Reuters, Sony has laid out its plan to spread its portfolio by adding Kadokawa. It already owns Crunchyroll and Funimation. However, it still wants to acquire the major anime publisher. Sony found the company suitable for its future approach because of its strong standing in anime and manga, as well as television and film.
Apart from FromSoftware, Kadokawa has Acquire, Spike Chunsoft, and the developer of the RPG Maker tool Gotcha Gotcha Games under management.
The plan is still under consideration, and a deal may be confirmed within weeks. However, both companies have not yet commented on it.
Sony buying off Kadokawa could cover its recent setbacks
While Sony already has a 14% stake in FromSoftware, Kadokawa owns 70% of the company. The rest of the 16% is is held by Tencent. If the Kadokawa takeover goes forward, it will also have a stronger hold on the studio behind Elden Ring which also had a DLC (also nominated for GOTY) released this year.
The DLC also sold 5 million licenses within three days of its release, while the game has overall 25 million sales. The studio has already raised the bar through its hit fantasy action role-playing game, and fans are eagerly waiting for it to announce its next project.
This deal could bring a positive outlook for Sony’s future, especially as the company has faced several setbacks this year. It had to let go 900 of its employees making, about 8% of PlayStation’s workforce globally. It also had to close Firewalks studios, responsible for Concord.
Even studios like Naughty Dog, Guerilla, and Insomniac had to cut their workforce. The studio behind Destiny 2, Bungie, also faced a similar downsizing situation due to underwhelming commercial stats.
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