Reuters is reporting that Sony is in talks to buy Kadokawa Corporation, the company that owns FromSoftware, Spike Chunsoft, and many other Japanese businesses. If successful, it would be a big move for Sony, gaining names as big as Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and Danganronpa, and be a strike back against Microsoft’s recent major purchases.
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Update: 12/11/ 2024, 2:25 p.m. ET: Sony has now officially confirmed that it is looking to buy Kadokawa. The company provided a statement to Yahoo Japan about the situation. Here’s the statement via Google Translate:
We cannot comment beyond the contents of the timely disclosure. It is true that we have expressed our initial intentions. We would appreciate it if you would refrain from commenting further.
Original story continues below:
Reuters reports that “two sources familiar with the matter” informed them that Sony is in talks to purchase Kadokawa, a company that reported $1.7 billion in revenue in 2024. The news network adds, “The talks between the two sides are ongoing and, if successful, a deal could be signed in the coming weeks, the sources said.”
Kadokawa is a Japanese media conglomerate that owns a huge array of businesses, across manga, anime, tourism, video streaming, and some of the most significant names in Japanese games development. That includes Spike Chunsoft, the developer behind Danganronpa, Mystery Dungeon, and most recently, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, as well as Acquire, co-developers of Octopath Traveler and, intriguingly, the developers of the just-released Nintendo exclusive, Mario & Luigi: Brothership.
It would also be another capturing of territory in the anime space, with companies like Doga Kobo, ENGI, Glovision, and many others, alongside the Anime News Network, and a vast swathe of Japan’s manga publishing houses. With Sony already owning Crunchyroll and Funimation, there are obvious concerns over Sony’s dominance in this area.
Of course, the headline name is FromSoftware, responsible for Dark Souls, Armored Core, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring. It would be a massive coup for Sony to own those names, and of course raise massive questions about whether it would see some of the most popular games in the world becoming PlayStation exclusives. While Microsoft is making loud noises about porting its games to rival platforms, Sony has shown no signs of returning the favor, instead focusing on belated ports to PC alone.
The news has sent Kadokawa shares rising almost a quarter, despite both parties refusing to comment.
Of course, this would be small fry compared to Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of Activision, but remains a significant retaliatory move that could do some proper harm to the Xbox if all those big names were whisked away.
Update: 11/20/24, 9:19 a.m. ET: Since this was first reported, Kadokawa has confirmed (pdf) that it has received an “initial letter of intent to acquire the Company’s shares” from Sony, but adds that no decision has been made. CEO Takeshi Natsuno said in the short, terse statement, “If there are any facts that should be announced in future, we will make an announcement in a timely and appropriate manner.”
The headline has been updated after Sony released a comment about its plans.
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