Featured Image Credit: Sony
Topics: PlayStation, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Sony, Fromsoftware, Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Anime
Topics: PlayStation, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Sony, Fromsoftware, Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Anime
On Tuesday, we reported on the rumour that sent the gaming community into a frenzy; Sony is supposedly in talks to purchase Kadokawa Corporation, who own FromSoftware (developers of titles such as Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne), Spike Chunsoft (Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX), and a large chunk of the publishing side of the anime and manga market.
Today, we’re back to tell you that the rumour is no longer a rumour.
In a statement released by Kadokawa’s CEO Takeshi Natsuno, he confirmed that they have received “an initial letter of intent to acquire the company's shares” from Sony Group Corporation.
The full statement is below.
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“There are some articles on the acquisition of KADOKAWA Corporation (hereinafter "the Company") by Sony Group Inc. However, this information is not announced by the Company. The Company has received an initial letter of intent to acquire the Company's shares, but no decision has been made at this time. If there are any facts that should be announced in the future, we will make an announcement in a timely and appropriate manner. “
Gotta admit, so many gaming rumours turn out to be nonsense that I’m a little taken aback. That being said, it does make a lot of sense from Sony’s perspective.
Let’s get the obvious bit out of the way; this would of course mean that FromSoftware, one of the most lauded developers of the past 20 years, would suddenly become a PlayStation-exclusive developer.
Dark Souls 4. Elden Ring 2. Armored Core VII. Bloodborne 2. All titles you could potentially never be able to play without access to a PlayStation.
And don’t sleep on the Spike Chunsoft acquisition either. Whilst their games aren’t pumping out Elden Ring levels of sales numbers (although Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero wasn’t far off), a developer that specialises in anime arena fighters would feel right at home on PlayStation software.
This would come in especially handy considering Kadokawa owns several anime and manga publishers, such as Yen Press, ASCII Media Works and Enterbrain.
By purchasing Kadokawa, Sony would own the rights to some of the most popular anime IPs of the 21st century, including (but not limited to) The Rising of the Shield Hero, Made in Abyss, Stray Dogs, Classroom of the Elite, Delicious in Dungeon, and Re: Zero.
Oh and did I mention that Sony already owns Crunchyroll?
Expect more news to come out of this very soon, as we’ve yet to hear any official word from Sony following Kadokawa’s statement.