It seems that the Chinese giant is trying to catch up with Sony in its stake in Kadokawa Corporation…

Tencent has increased its stake in FromSoftware’s parent company Kadokawa, bringing it closer to Sony’s percentage in the company, reports Japan’s Nikkei. It has acquired a 1.11% stake in Kadokawa, bringing Tencent’s stake to 7.97%. The Chinese company confirmed that it has increased its stake in the parent company of the Japanese studio that has made several big games (Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Elden Ring, and now Elden Ring Nightreign) as part of a powerful business alliance between the two parties.

But despite Tencent’s acquisition of more than 1% of Kadokawa, the Chinese company is still far from claiming to be the majority shareholder of the Japanese company. Back in December, Sony and Kadokawa confirmed that the two companies had entered into a strategic capital and business alliance. As a result, Sony became Kadokawa’s largest shareholder with approximately 10% of the company’s shares. The alliance will allow Kadokawa to implement the company’s Global Media Mix strategy, which involves the global expansion of a wide range of entertainment, including anime and games.

But the difference between Sony and Tencent is not that great. Ubisoft has been mooted as a possible new takeover target for Tencent, but that has not happened yet. (Ubisoft was previously in the sights of Vivendi, but the French media giant was only able to squeeze out sister company Gameloft). If Tencent catches up and overtakes Sony, it will only be a matter of time before they take over. Meanwhile, FromSoftware is busy developing the Elden Ring multiplayer spin-off Elden Ring: Nightreign, which will support three players. This will combine the core mechanics of the base game with roguelike elements and will feature familiar bosses from some of the older games.

This will make things even more interesting. When will Sony react?

Source: WCCFTech