Sony is reportedly in initial talks to add another company to the PlayStation Studios in the future.
This time it’s Japan that Sony, now largely Americanized, wants to expand into (Sony Interactive Entertainment is not based in Japan, but in the USA…). This time Sony wants to acquire Kadokawa Corporation. The name of the company itself doesn’t mean anything, but if you add that it primarily owns FromSoftware, the company that last made Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, you’ve got another thing coming…
As a result of the rumors, Kadokawa’s shares went up so much on the stock market that they closed up 23%. By the way, Kadokawa is not a new company. It was founded a few months after World War II, and a lot has changed since then. The latest version of the company was born in October 2014, after the merger with Dwango. Kadokawa is also involved in book publishing, manga, movies and animation. Sony, however, is not eyeing the company because of this, but because it owns about 70% of FromSoftware. In addition to Elden Ring, their other IPs include Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Bloodborne, Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls…
Sony had already entered into an equity partnership with Kadokawa in February 2021, and in August 2022 it invested directly in FromSoftware, acquiring about 14% of the shares (Tencent also bought 16% at the same time). Shortly after the latter announcement, Hermen Hulst, then head of PlayStation Studios (now CEO of SIE Studio Business Group), hinted at a possible collaboration with FromSoftware, not only on games but also on adaptations through PlayStation Productions. Let’s not forget that in July, George R.R. Martin, who famously contributed to the world and story of Elden Ring, not-so-subtly hinted that a feature film or TV series could be in the works. This would not be out of the ordinary for Sony, who have had several of their major franchises (Uncharted, The Last of Us, Gran Turismo, God of War, Ghost of Tsushima) adapted for film or television.
We’ll see where these negotiations go.
