After an initial rumor gave way to speculation, Japanese media conglomerate Kadokawa has now publicly reported Sony‘s interest in an acquisition. The prospect of Sony acquiring Kadokawa has sparked plenty of discussion surrounding the merits of such a merger, but the economics of corporate mergers and acquisitions are just part of the equation, as Sony stands to become an even bigger force in both gaming and anime should it successfully acquire Kadokawa.
The most obvious “big get” for Sony from an acquisition of Kadokawa is majority ownership of FromSoftware. The success of FromSoftware’s games over the last decade has seen a one-time niche developer become one of the major creative forces in the industry, spearheaded by its president and Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki. Further, Sony’s ownership of Crunchyroll and Funimation gave the company a strong foothold in anime, which would only become further solidified by acquiring all of Kadokawa’s many anime studios. Beyond these two obvious wins for Sony, though, several noteworthy game studios under Kadokawa’s umbrella would make the potential acquisition an industry-changing force.
Every Game Studio Sony Stands to Gain From the Kadokawa Acquisition
FromSoftware
Arguably the most significant acquisition to be made from Sony’s plans to purchase Kadokawa is majority ownership of FromSoftware. Though the studio was originally formed well before the success of Dark Souls, the modern era of FromSoftware has seen it rise to become one of the most important developers working today. Sony already has a 14% stake in FromSoftware, but its potential purchase of Kadokawa would give it another 70% ownership of the company, potentially leading to future FromSoftware releases having timed exclusivity on Sony hardware. Elden Ring‘s place as 2022’s Game of the Year and the most commercially successful FromSoftware game to date, among a plethora of other accolades, would make this a huge pick up for Sony.
Spike Chunsoft
Spike Chunsoft is another prominent studio owned by Kadokawa and a major merged studio similar to Square Enix. Chunsoft was formed in 1984 and would eventually be the studio responsible for helping to bring Dragon Quest into the world before going on to produce several other noteworthy series, including the hugely popular Shiren the Wanderer and Mystery Dungeon franchises. Chunsoft would merge with Spike in 2012, with the company later producing the popular detective games in the Danganronpa and AI: The Somnium Files series. Notably, Spike Chunsoft is also a major player in publishing Western games in Japan, helping to bring hits like Baldur’s Gate 3 to the East. Sony’s acquisition of Kadokawa would make them Spike Chunsoft’s owner, which in turn, would give them a major stake in Japanese game publishing.
Acquire
Kadokawa also happens to own Acquire, which got its start developing the acclaimed first two Tenchu games for PS1. More recently, Acquire has been busy assisting on the Octopath Traveler franchise, as well as partnering with Nintendo on the development of this year’s Mario & Luigi: Brothership. Acquire’s output in the last several years positions it as a major force when it comes to contracted development with other major studios. This stands to make the studio a valuable asset for Sony in the wake of the Kadokawa acquisition, which could divert Acquire and its resources to assist on different first-party projects.
Gotcha Gotcha Games
The studio behind the RPG Maker franchise, Gotcha Gotcha Games, is another developer in which Kadokawa has majority ownership. While the RPG Maker franchise is far from the only IP in the studio’s portfolio, it is one of the most successful. Unlike Spike Chunsoft (which is owned by one of Kadokawa’s subsidiaries, Dwango), Gotcha Gotcha Games is a direct holding of Kadokawa.
Sony
- Date Founded
- May 7, 1946
- Headquarters
- Minato City, Tokyo, Japan