Sony In Talks to Acquire Kadokawa Corporation, Majority Owner of Elden Ring Developer FromSoftware

A new report from Reuters claims that Sony is currently in talks about a potential acquisition of the Japanese conglomerate Kadokawa Corporation. Kadokawa Corporation owns a significant number of companies, and an acquisition would shake up the video game, anime, and manga industries in major ways. In terms of gaming publishers, Kadokawa wholly owns Spike Chunsoft, Acquire, Gotcha Gotcha Games, and FromNetworks. It also owns a 69.66% stake in Elden Ring creator FromSoftware, with Sony already owning 14.09%. Reuters reached out to both companies, but Sony declined to comment, while Kadokawa has said that it cannot comment.

The acquisition of Kadokawa Corporation would give Sony majority ownership in one of the most celebrated video game developers in the industry. Since releasing in 2022, Elden Ring has become one of the most critically and commercially successful video games of all-time, and FromSoftware became the sole rights holder to the IP earlier this year. The company has also expressed an interest in expanding the IP beyond video games, and there have been a lot of rumors about potential adaptations. While Elden Ring has made FromSoftware a household name, the company is responsible for several other beloved games, including Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Kadokawa Corporation’s other developers are also fairly notable, and an acquisition could have a huge impact on how they do business. Over the last few years, Spike Chunsoft has developed games like Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero!, AI: The Somnium Files, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX. Meanwhile, Acquire has co-developed the Octopath Traveler games with Square Enix, and was also the developer of the recent Nintendo Switch exclusive Mario & Luigi: Brothership.

While the potential impact on the video game industry would be substantial, reports of this acquisition have already started to generate a lot of concern among anime and manga fans. Sony already has a big piece of the anime industry thanks to the acquisitions of Crunchyroll and Funimation. If regulators approved of the acquisition of Kadokawa Corporation, there are concerns it would give Sony a monopoly on the industry as a whole.

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For now, readers should keep in mind that nothing has been confirmed, and it’s possible this acquisition could fall through. Just because the two companies are reportedly in talks, it does not mean that both sides will agree to terms, or that regulators would approve the deal. Consolidation has become a big concern over the last few years, and while this deal could be good for Sony’s stock price, it could be a lot worse for consumers. For the time being, fans of FromSoftware and Kadokawa’s anime offerings will just have to wait and see how this plays out.

How would you feel about Sony acquiring Kadokawa Corporation? Do you think that the acquisition would be bad for consumers? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!