Sony has increased its shares in Kadokawa, owner of FromSoftware, as the two companies agree to form a “strategic capital and business alliance.”
Sony already held shares in the company, but with the increase it now owns approximately 10 percent of the company’s shares and becomes its largest shareholder, although this is not a full acquisition as previously suspected.
The two companies will adapt Kadokawa’s intellectual property into live-action films and television dramas globally, co-produce anime works, expand global distribution of Kadokawa’s anime works, further expand the publishing of Kadokawa games, and develop human resources.
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As a Sony press release reads: Kadokawa and Sony “intend to further strengthen [their] collaboration to maximize the value of both companies’ intellectual property globally and facilitate broader and deeper collaboration,” joining forces for content, discovering new creators and “media combinations of both companies’ intellectual property.”
Sony has acquired 12,054,100 new Kadokawa shares for approximately 50 billion yen, around £251.7 million. Chinese conglomerate Tencent owns 6.86 percent of the shares, compared to Sony’s 10 percent.
Kadokawa is a big name in anime publishing, which means Sony globally will now be a strong force in the industry.
Expanding Kadokawa’s games further is exciting for gamers, however, with the potential for more Bloodborne and Demon’s Souls games with Sony, as well as big-screen adaptations of FromSoftware games.
Eurogamer has contacted FromSoftware for further comment.
“We are very pleased to conclude this business and equity alliance agreement with Sony,” said Kadokawa CEO Takeshi Natsuno. “This alliance is expected to not only further strengthen our IP creation capabilities but also increase our IP media mix options with Sony’s support for global expansion, allowing us to offer our IP to more users in around the world. We are confident that this will greatly improve “Contribute to maximizing the value of our intellectual property and increasing our corporate value in the medium and long term. “We intend to do everything we can to ensure that our collaborative efforts with Sony produce great results in the global market.”
“Through this capital and business alliance, we will become the largest shareholder of Kadokawa, which consistently creates a wide variety of intellectual property, including publications and books, such as light novels and comics, as well as games and anime,” said the president of Sony. Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki. “By combining Kadokawa’s extensive IP and IP creation ecosystem with the strengths of Sony, which has promoted the global expansion of a wide range of entertainment, including anime and games, we plan to work closely to realize the ‘Global’ strategy. Media Mix’ by Kadokawa. aimed at maximizing the value of its intellectual property and Sony’s long-term ‘Creative Entertainment Vision’.”
News that Sony could acquire Kadokawa broke in November, according to a Reuters report. Kadokawa followed up to officially acknowledge Sony’s acquisition interest, which Sony also later confirmed.
FromSoftware employees were reportedly “delighted” at the prospect of a Sony acquisition, due to disappointment with the current management’s response to a ransomware cyberattack earlier this year.
In addition to its 14 percent stake in FromSoftware specifically, Sony has ownership of the Bloodborne and Demon’s Souls franchises. FromSoftware owns the rights to Elden Ring and Sekiro.
Earlier this week, FromSoftware publisher Bandai Namco revealed that Elden Ring has sold 28.6 million copies.
At last week’s The game Awards, FromSoftware announced the Elden Ring spin-off, Nightreign, a cooperative roguelite in a parallel world.
