Sony in Talks to Buy FromSoftware Parent Company Kadokawa

Sony Group is currently in talks to acquire Kadokawa, the Japanese media conglomerate that owns video game developers FromSoftware. As reported by Reuters, both Sony and Kadokawa declined to comment, with the negotiations believed to be in its early stages. [Thanks, Reuters!]

As of writing this, Sony already has a 2% stake in Kadokawa, as well as a 14.09% stake on FromSoftware. Aside from Elden Ring and Armored Core developers FromSoftware, Kadokawa Corporation is also the parent company of Spike Chunsoft, developers of the AI: The Somnium Files and Danganronpa series, as well as Acquire, who developed the recent Mario & Luigi: Brothership in collaboration with Nintendo.

In addition to expanding its ownership of various video game franchises, the acquisition would give Sony control of Kadokawa’s book publishing business, as well as ownership of Dwango, the father corporation of Japanese video hosting service Niconico.

The ongoing Kadokawa negotiation is the latest move by Sony into acquiring more properties and expanding its business. Similar acquisitions by Sony include Bungie’s acquisition on February 2022 and Crunchyroll’s acquisition on August 2021. This trend has repeated through the video game industry in recent years, with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October 13, 2023 being another notable example.

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