Kadokawa Corporation's CEO says "no decision has been made" yet.
Kadokawa Corporation, an anime and manga giant and FromSoftware's parent company, has recently confirmed that Sony expressed interest in buying out their company.
Sony's intent to buy out Kadokawa was first reported by Reuters on Tuesday (19 November). However, Kadokawa's CEO affirmed that the company is yet to make a decision.
In a press release, Kadokawa Corporation on 20 November, CEO Takeshi Natsuno emphasised that this report "has not been announced by the company."
"The Company has received an initial letter of intent to acquire the Company's shares, but no decision has been made at this time."
If this acquisition pushes through, it may be one of the most significant and impactful of its kind in a while. Given the scope of Kadokawa Corporation, the acquisition would impact more than just the games from FromSoftware Inc., which include big hits like Bloodborne, Elden Ring, and Dark Souls. It would also impact Kadokawa's large anime and manga segment.
Many gaming, anime, and manga fans are concerned over this potential buyout and have taken to social media to express their dismay.
FromSoftware fans want Sony to "stay away"
If Sony is successful with the buyout, this would include game studios under Kadokawa such as Kadokawa Games, which had been focused on publishing titles like God Wars and The Lost Child, Spike Chunsoft, known for titles like Zero Escape and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, and Entegram, a smaller studio focused on visual novels and smaller projects.
However, Sony's biggest get here would be acquiring FromSoftware Studios, which has produced massive hits like Elden Ring. However, this means that FromSoftware could fall under the PlayStation Studios umbrella, and might produce Playstation exclusives in the future. In fact, since Reuters released the report, many fans have been up in arms on social media, going so far as to call Sony a “thief.”
On Reddit, a post by Redditor Berem_ was met with plenty of upvotes before the original post was removed by moderators. Fans commented that Sony should leave the studio alone and that acquiring FromSoftware will lead to the studio's “ruin.”
Others like Redditor headin2sound, are more worried that games from FromSoftware would take longer to get to PC, commenting, “As a PC player, FromSoftware games are the only ones I am buying day one so I do not want to wait for years until they port it from PlayStation to PC.”
On X (formerly Twitter), the sentiment is more mixed, with plenty of fans afraid of Sony's acquisition for the same reasons, like the above X user @Ratatos77196870. However, others, like @Miss_Bonnie88, were more accepting, stating that Sony “co-developed Demon's Souls with @FromSoftware in case you forgot. They also bankrolled the whole damn thing." Others, like X user @UncleBebop also agree with the idea, saying they “preferred that the studio got acquired by Sony” instead of other foreign giants in the industry.
It should be noted that FromSoftware wasn't actually involved in the development of the Demon's Souls remake, which was produced by Bluepoint Games. In fact, as of 2022, original game director Hidetaka Miyazaki hadn't even played the remake yet!
Anime and manga fans worried about monopoly
Kadokawa is also a significant player in the anime and manga publishing industry, producing well-known series like Re: Zero – Starting Life in Another World, The Rising of Shield Hero, Overlord, Sword Art Online, etc. Kadokawa was also the publisher of critically acclaimed works by Makoto Shinkai, like Your Name (Kimi No Nawa), Weathering with You, and Suzume.
Sony's acquisition of Kadokawa will bundle these studios and publishing companies up with other giants in the same industry, like Aniplex and Crunchyroll, a possibility that fans are worried about. Many fans also took to Reddit and social media, expressing concern over this perceived monopoly. A post by Redditor Lulcielid was met with angry "nos", calling it "terrible news."
"How many times do we have to say it? MONOPOLIES are bad. [I] really hope this doesn't happen; having everything anime/manga related under one company is going to hurt more than save it," another Redditor NanoRin commented.
“I don't want it to happen, there has been more than enough consolidation in the anime industry,” Redditor DAV_2-0 also said. "That said, Kadokawa is literally the company that best suits Sony's interests and the business groups that they want to expand," they added.
However, others are cautiously optimistic, highlighting Sony's expertise in global media and IP expansion. “This could result in a more unified, global release for major series, which in turn could be good for anime fans,” an opinion piece published by Comicbook said. While Sony awaits Kadokawa Corporation's final answer, fans from the gaming, anime and manga industry will have to wait to see if the deal pushes through.
