Reuters reports that Sony is in talks to buy Kadokawa Corporation, the company that owns FromSoftware, Spike Chunsoft and many other Japanese companies. If successful, it would be a substantial step for Sony, gaining names as celebrated as Elden’s Ring, Dark SoulsAND Danganronpaand constitute a counterattack to Microsoft’s recent gigantic purchases.
Reuters reports that “two sources familiar with the matter” have told them that Sony is in talks to buy Kadokawa, a company that reported revenues of $1.7 billion in 2024. The news network adds: “Talks between the two sides are ongoing and if successful, sources say a deal could be signed in the coming weeks.”
Kadokawa is a Japanese media conglomerate that owns a wide range of companies spanning manga, anime, tourism, video streaming, and some of the most critical names in the Japanese game development industry. This includes Spike Chunsoft, the creator Danganronpa, Mysterious Dungeonand recently Dragon Ball: Spark! Zeroand Acquire, co-creators Octopath Traveler and, intriguingly, the creators of the just-released Nintendo-exclusive game, Mario and Luigi: Brotherhood.
It would also be another takeover of territory in the anime space by companies such as Doga Kobo, ENGI, Glovision and many others, alongside Anime News Networkand a huge part of Japanese manga publishing houses. Since Sony already owns Crunchyroll and Funimation, there are obvious concerns about Sony’s dominance in this space.
The headline is, of course, the company FromSoftware is responsible for Dark Souls, Armored core, Transmitted through bloodAND Elden’s Ring. Having these names would be a huge coup for Sony, and of course it would raise huge questions about whether some of the world’s most popular games will become PlayStation exclusives. One sec Microsoft is talking loudly about porting its games to competing platformsSony has shown no signs of returning the favor, instead focusing on tardy PC-only ports.
The news sent Kadokawa’s shares up by almost a quarter, although both sides declined to comment.
Of course, this would be diminutive fry compared to Microsoft bought Activision for $69 billionbut it remains a significant retaliatory move that could do stern damage to Xbox if all these substantial names were removed.
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