The gaming industry could change in a big way if Sony’s already inked (and confirmed by the target…) deal goes through, according to a former Blizzard CEO.

GamesRadar has reported that Mike Ybarra, ex-CEO of Blizzard Entertainment, has also weighed in on Sony’s plan on Twitter. We have also reported that Sony is eyeing Japan’s Kadokawa Corporation, a company that has been around for almost 80 years and owns a majority stake in a Japanese studio that everyone is probably familiar with. They are called FromSoftware. We might know them from some titles called Elden Ring and Dark Souls…

“If Sony buys FromSoftware, it’s probably one of the top 2 acquisitions in video games in the last 15+ years, if not ever (the other being Minecraft to Microsoft for only $2.5B). FromSoftware is incredible – releasing games at an accelerated pace that are AAA and epic. Their track record is fantastic. The only thing bigger would be to buy Valve or Nintendo. And I don’t see that happening in any scenario. These are exciting times,” Ybarra said.

If Sony does purchase FromSoftware, it’s probably a top 2 acquisition in video gaming in the last 15+ years if not ever (the other being Minecraft to Microsoft for only $2.5B). FromSoftware is incredible – releasing games on an accelerated pace that are AAA and epic. The track…

— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) November 19, 2024

When you think about it, it’s probably not From Software that Sony is trying to take over Kadokawa. After all, the Japanese company has a presence in both anime and manga, and with the latter, Sony could essentially create a monopoly for itself, since it already owns Crunchyroll, for example. Sony also owns Funimation, which it acquired in 2022. As for the anime and manga market, we see no chance of it slowing down like the gaming industry did recently after the pandemic, because first there was a big surge in players, which led to big profits, and then everyone had to cut back after the correction.

We are also seeing consolidation in the game industry. Bigger companies are buying up smaller companies, and it would not be a big surprise if Assassin’s Creed Shadows was not a big hit for Ubisoft and they were eventually taken over by Tencent…

Source: PCGamer