Summary
- Sony is actively pursuing the acquisition of Kadokawa, the parent company of FromSoftware, a developer of popular games.
- Major players in the media industry are consolidating through acquisitions, with Sony making strategic moves.
- Due to Sony and Kadokawa's significant presence, the acquisition could impact both the gaming and anime industries.
A new report confirms this Sony is actively interested in acquiring Kadokawa, a major Japanese media conglomerate and parent company of FromSoftware, developer of Elden Ring and the souls Title. Sony is rumored to be “in talks” to take over the publisher.
The global media industry is entering an era of great consolidation. From Disney's acquisition of Fox to Microsoft's merger with Activision-Blizzard to the upswing at Sony itself Determination Developer Bungie in 2022: The biggest players in the media industry are looking for ways to become even bigger. Large companies tend to view acquisitions as strategic moves to improve their prospects in key markets or even to acquire popular franchises and series in order to preserve part of their profitability and gain control over their further development.
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This could be the case with Sony's potential purchase of Kadokawa. According to comments published in a report by Japanese website Bunshun Online, Sony Group confirmed that it had officially “expressed its intention” to acquire Kadokawa. The comments confirm rumors from a previous Reuters report about Sony's purchase of Kadokawa, published in November 2024.
Sony confirms intention to buy Kadokawa
The Bunshun Online report itself focuses on comments from Kadokawa employees, executives and outside analysts who responded to the rumors. Comments from business analyst Takahiro Suzuki suggested that a potential deal would be more likely to work in Sony's favor than Kadokawa's, as the latter could “lose independence” due to the change in management. Suzuki's comments mentioned that a potential Sony-led government could be “tougher.” The sentiment is consistent with what others have said about companies that have come under Sony's umbrella in the recent past. A former Bungie lawyer praised Sony for imposing the necessary “discipline” on Sony's production and management Destiny 2 after the takeover.
Although Sony's acquisition of Kadokawa and its game studios could mark a significant change in the gaming industry, the potential impact of the acquisition could be much greater for the anime industry. Both Sony and Kadokawa are among the largest players in anime and manga production worldwide. Sony owns Crunchyroll and Funimation, two of the world's largest anime distributors, while Kadokawa owns countless IPs and large stakes in anime production at almost every level.
The creation of a potential anime juggernaut by Sony and Kadokawa could represent a seismic shift in the balance of power for the anime scene, but it should be said that a buyout is not a given. Sony has only expressed interest in the acquisition and there are still many steps to go through before a decision is made. A merger between the two titans is only theoretical for now.
Sony
- Founding date
- May 7, 1946
- headquarters
- Minato City, Tokyo, Japan
