Kadokawa Corporation has confirmed it has received a buyout offer from Sony, but insists it has yet to make a decision on whether to sell up.
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Sony was in talks to buy Kadokawa, whose subsidiary FromSoftware is behind smash hit Elden Ring, the Dark Souls and Armored Core games, and PlayStation exclusive Bloodborne.
Kadokawa has now confirmed the report, with a note from CEO Takeshi Natsuno issued after shares in the company skyrocketed on the news.
“There are some articles on the acquisition of Kadokawa Corporation (hereinafter ‘the Company’) by Sony Group Inc,” Natsuno said. “However, this information is not 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 there are any facts that should be announced in the future, we will make an announcement in a timely and appropriate manner.”
Sony has so far declined to comment.
Kadokawa’s business extends into areas that fit into Sony’s broader entertainment offering, which includes anime, manga, TV, and film. Kadokawa is a prolific publisher of anime, and Sony already owns anime streamers Crunchyroll and Funimation. As well as FromSoftware, Kadokawa owns Danganronpa developer Spike Chunsoft, Octopath Traveler developer Acquire, and RPG Maker and Pixel Game Maker developer Gotcha Gotcha Games.
Kadokawa is the majority owner of FromSoftware, with around 70% of the company. Sony already owns around 14% of the developer, with Tencent owning around 16%.
Piers Harding-Rolls, Research Director at Ampere Analysis, told IGN that news of a potential deal isn’t that surprising. “Sony’s interest in Kadokawa’s games publisher FromSoftware was made more concrete in 2022 when it acquired a roughly 14% share of the company following up on its long-time collaboration with the company,” Harding-Rolls said.
“At the time, Sony mentioned a broader interest in cross-media development of anime and games IP to support its other media businesses. So, in that sense any deal for the parent company Kadokawa, which also operates extensively in manga and anime, is a natural extension of this earlier deal. These other areas align nicely with Sony’s anime businesses.
“The market conditions for acquisitions have changed dramatically over the last two years but Sony will always be looking for opportunities that can fuel its growth and that bolster its IP portfolio, and that represent value. There may also be a defensive element to this move. FromSoftware is an important partner for Sony’s games business, and it will not want a competitor taking control of Kadokawa and potentially disrupting that relationship. It helps that Kadokawa is also active in areas which are a strong fit with Sony’s wider business.”
For Sony, its gaming business has already suffered significant layoffs this year and the closure of multiple studios, including Concord developer Firewalk. In February, it announced a round of layoffs affecting 900 staff, or about 8% of its global PlayStation workforce. The layoffs impacted a number of PlayStation studios, including Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, and Firesprite, but PlayStation’s London studio was hit hardest with a notice of closure. Since then, Sony-owned Bungie has also suffered devastating cuts as Destiny 2 struggles to find commercial success.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.