A few weeks ago, a rumor suggesting a possible takeover of FromSoftware’s parent company by Sony ignited the web. After several days of calm, today we finally have an official announcement.
Sony is not (yet) buying FromSoftware
In a press release published a few hours ago, we discovered that Sony has acquired more shares of KADOKAWA for an amount of around 50 billion yen.
KADOKAWA CORPORATION (“KADOKAWA”) and Sony Group Corporation (“Sony”) today signed a strategic equity and business alliance agreement, agreeing to make a third-party allocation by KADOKAWA to Sony on January 7, 2025, Sony acquiring 12,054,100 new shares of KADOKAWA for approximately 50 billion yen.
Although this is not a global buyout, Sony will nevertheless become KADOKAWA’s largest shareholder, holding approximately 10% of its shares, with this operation.
The Japanese media giant explains that KADOKAWA and Sony have already collaborated on various projects in the past and intend with this alliance to strengthen their collaboration in order to “maximize the value of the intellectual property of the two companies on a global level”.
through this capital and business alliance, intend to strengthen their collaboration in order to maximize the value of the intellectual property of both companies globally and to facilitate broader and deeper collaboration, such as Potential joint investments in content, joint discovery of new creators and joint promotion of new media mixes of the intellectual property of both companies.
The press release then mentions that the two companies plan to “discuss specific collaborative initiatives” in various areas, including video games.
In the future, the two companies plan to discuss specific collaborative initiatives, such as initiatives to adapt KADOKAWA’s intellectual property into action films and television series globally, to co-produce works animated works, to expand the global distribution of KADOKAWA animated works through the Sony Group, to expand the publishing of KADOKAWA games, and to develop human resources to promote and expand virtual production.
It is difficult at the moment to know how this new agreement will impact Kadokawa’s various works and in particular FromSoftware’s games. We already know that Elden Ring Nightreign will be released in 2025 on Xbox One, Xbox Series
