Following the rumor that Sony would be interested in acquiring FromSoftware's parent company, Kadokawa Corporation, the two companies have just announced that they have entered a strategic capital and business alliance that will make Sony the largest shareholder with around 10% of Kadokawa's stock. It's not the first time, as the companies made a similar announcement three years ago, but it sounds like they're getting tighter. Sony is investing roughly $320 million to acquire 12 million new shares of the Japanese multimedia company.
Needless to say, Sony and Kadokawa will collaborate on several projects, such as adapting the latter company's intellectual properties to live-action TV or cinema, co-producing new anime works, and expanding the publishing of Kadokawa's games.
Takeshi Natsuno, Chief Executive Officer of Kadokawa Corporation, said in a statement:
We are very pleased to conclude this capital and business alliance agreement with Sony. This alliance is expected to not only further strengthen our IP creation capabilities, but also increase our IP media mix options with Sony’s support for global expansion, allowing us to deliver our IP to more users around the world. We are confident that this will greatly contribute to maximizing the value of our IP and increasing our corporate value in the mid-to-long term. We intend to do our utmost to ensure that our collaborative efforts with Sony produce great results in the global market.
Hiroki Totoki, President, COO and CFO of Sony Group Corporation, added:
Through this capital and business alliance, we will become the largest shareholder of Kadokawa, which consistently creates a wide variety of IP, including publications and books, such as light novels and comics, as well as games and anime. By combining Kadokawa’s extensive IP and IP creation ecosystem with the strengths of Sony, which has promoted the global expansion of a wide range of entertainment, including anime and games, we plan to work closely together to realize Kadokawa’s ‘Global Media Mix’ strategy, aimed at maximizing the value of its IP, and Sony’s long-term vision, ‘Creative Entertainment Vision.
Non-PlayStation gamers have been wary that this could mean FromSoftware's games would become exclusive to Sony's consoles, but this is doubtful. In all likelihood, the main goal of this collaboration is to adapt Kadokawa's franchises to other media.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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