Elden Ring owner faces tense CEO clash as a battle between Kadokawa and activist shareholders rages on

A tense battle between investors is happening at FromSoftware's parent company, and Elden Ring is at the heart of a debate over whether its CEO should remain in his role.

This clash will manifest itself today, as part of Kadokawa's annual investor meeting, where the company will review its past and future investments. The two parties butting heads are the current CEO Takeshi Natsuno, and Hong Kong activist investment company Oasis Management.

Oasis Management has been gradually building up its ownership of Kadokawa shares, recently securing 13.76 percent. This makes it Kadokawa's largest shareholder - granting it significant sway.

Oasis is arguing that "profit leakage" has occurred at Kadokawa following Elden Ring's gangbusters success. Published by FromSoftware in Japan, Bandai Namco handled publishing overseas, it's this arrangement that Oasis argues has led to the leakage. The game passed 30m sales last year, was a game of the year award winner, and from Oasis' point of view it's a missed opportunity for additional profit.

While Oasis is leading the charge in this debate, it's not alone. The argument is backed up by investors. One such group, Institutional Shareholder Services, said: "While it may take time to find a replacement for Natsuno, this is a challenge worth accepting."

The other side of this debate - the CEO and those loyal to him - are arguing that not keeping him in the big seat would cause chaos. Last year he held 90 percent of support during the annual investment meeting, and the company's board has argued removing him while the company is undergoing significant reform would complicate matters.

But why they are undergoing reform in the first place is an argument in Oasis' favour. Kadokawa has been struggling. In 2025 it declared an 0.5 percent return on equity, which is meek in comparison to the 9.4 percent returned in 2022 when Elden Ring released. It also suffered a data breach in 2024 and has been investigated over alleged freelancer worker conditions.

Even if the CEO remains in place, the increased pressure by Oasis and like-minded proxies could apply enough pressure for Kadokawa to invest more heavily in big-budget games like Elden Ring. Still, as the rest of the industry has shown, that in itself is an arduous process due to increased consumer costs, development costs, and its impact on gamer's purchasing power.