In a press release, Sony explained that the companies “historically have collaborated on various projects, and through this capital and business alliance, intend to further strengthen our collaboration to maximize both companies’ IP value globally and facilitate wider and deeper collaboration.”

These include “potential joint investments in the content field, joint discovery of new creators, and joint promotion of further media mixes of both companies’ IP” and plans to “discuss specific initiatives for collaboration” like adapting Kadokawa’s IP for live-action films and TV dramas, co-production of anime, and more.

Interestingly, these could also mean further expanding the “publishing of Kadokawa’s games.” CFO and president Hiroki Totoki said, “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.’”

Kadokawa CEO Takeshi Natsuno said the company is “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.”

When rumors first circulated, they focused more on Sony acquiring Kadokawa Corporation outright. What changed in the interim is unknown, but it’s safe to say that you won’t be seeing forthcoming FromSoftware projects (of which several are in the works) exclusive to PS5 anytime soon.

This follows a similar statement from Kadokawa last month, confirming a letter of intent for acquisition. However, no decision had been made at the time. The rumors began around the same time after an initial report by Reuters, which said discussions are “ongoing.” Financial newspaper Nikkei chimed in later to report that negotiations were still in their “early stages,” so a deal likely won’t happen in some time.

The acquisition would be significant for Sony, not only for its anime connections (which Sony has delved into more, as seen with its Crunchyroll acquisition) but also because it owns developers like ACQUIRE and FromSoftware. The latter’s open-world Souls-like Elden Ring has been a massive success, with 25 million copies sold. Its expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, has sold five million units.

With FromSoftware working on various projects across multiple genres (and Elden Ring 2 not coming anytime soon), it should be interesting to see where discussions between Kadokawa and Sony end up. Stay tuned for updates in the meantime.

However, he clarified that no decision has been reached “at this time.” Any “facts” to be revealed about this in the future will be announced “in a timely and appropriate manner.” Following Reuters’ initial report, Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei reported that both parties were in the “early stages” of negotiations.

Time will tell how things shake out, but Sony does have some stake in Kadokawa. In addition to a 1.93 percent stake from their capital alliance in February 2021, it obtained 14.09 percent of newly issued shares for FromSoftware in August 2022. Once again, Sony hasn’t offered any comment on acquiring Kadokawa, but it allegedly considered FromSoftware a candidate for merger and acquisition as far back as April 2022. Stay tuned for more details and updates in the meantime.

While Sony didn’t comment on the report, Kadokawa said it “can’t” offer any. The former owns a 1.93 percent stake in Kadokawa following a capital alliance in February 2021. in August 2022, the latter issued new shares for FromSoftware, with Tencent receiving 16.25 percent via Sixjoy Hong Kong and Sony getting 14.09 percent.

FromSoftware is best known for its hit action RPG titles, including Dark Souls and Bloodborne. It recently released Elden Ring, which sold 25 million units in its lifetime, and its expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, which crossed five million sales in its first month. As for the future, a remaster of Dark Souls 3 is allegedly in the works. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

“To further strengthen the ability to create IP in games, we have made ACQUIRE Corp. into a wholly owned subsidiary,” Kadokawa said in its recent quarterly earnings report.

The company added: “To strengthen the ability to create IP in games as part of our game business strategy, we have made ACQUIRE Corp. into a wholly owned subsidiary.

“By acquiring the company, which has produced million-seller hit titles, we expect to generate synergies with our existing game-related subsidiaries, strengthen our planning and development capabilities Groupwide, and enhance our lineup of console games.”

Though ACQUIRE is perhaps best known as the co-developer of the Octopath Traveler games, in its earlier years, the studio developed (and created) the Tenchu and Way of the Samurai franchises. Notably, the Tenchu IP is owned by FromSoftware, while Way of the Samurai is owned by Spike Chunsoft- and both are owned by Kadokawa Corporation.

Given ACQUIRE’s history with both aforementioned developers, Kadokawa says it also intends to “promote collaboration with FromSoftware and Spike Chunsoft, with whom ACQUIRE had a cooperative relationship”.

This follows rumors of the developer being a merger and acquisition candidate for the PS5 manufacturer. Sony formed a capital alliance with Kadokawa last year, granting it 1.93 percent ownership of the company.

As to the current deal, Kadokawa remains the largest shareholder with 69.66 percent of shares. In its notice for the same, the parent company said that FromSoftware will “aim to proactively invest in the development of more powerful game IP for itself to strengthen FromSoftware’s development capabilities and will seek to establish a framework that allows the expansion of the scope of its own publishing in the significantly growing global market.”

This seems to indicate that the studio will go into publishing at some point, which is interesting considering its reliance on Bandai Namco Entertainment over the years (and Activision for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice).

It also noted, “For an increase of the number of users in the global market for game IP that FromSoftware creates and develops, FromSoftware decided to conduct the Third-Party Allotment to Sixjoy within the Tencent Group, which has strength in its capabilities to develop and deploy mobile games and other network technologies in the global market including China, and SIE within the Sony Group, which has strength in its capabilities to deploy IP in games, videos and various other media in the global market, concurrently and separately.”

While this doesn’t confirm that the studio is working on mobile projects, it speaks to its desire to release games in China. What it could develop in collaboration with Sony Interactive Entertainment remains to be seen. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

Along with providing a brief history of FromSoftware’s dealings, Toto also spoke about its valuation which “still makes my heart bleed.” Current parent company Kadokawa Corporation purchased shares of the developer for “what is the equivalent of US$22.5 million today. So in 2014, From’s valuation was well below US$30 million. The devil is in the details, but the price was very likely a total joke back then already.”

While it’s technically not impossible for the studio to be sold, being a “candidate” for merger and acquisition doesn’t immediately translate to a done deal. FromSoftware could very well be under consideration for acquisition along with several other studios. So while Sony taking interest is important, don’t take this as outright confirmation of the same.

However, if it does happen, it would be interesting to see the results. Who knows? We may finally get that sequel/remake/remaster to Bloodborne after all this time.

https://twitter.com/serkantoto/status/1516140701028823040

8) In 2014, publishing giant Kadokawa landed what is one of the greatest deals in the history of the gaming industry worldwide.

In April that year, Kadokawa acquired 80% of From's shares from transcosmos.

The outsourcing company simply wanted to get rid of its gaming business.

— Dr. Serkan Toto / Kantan Games Inc. (@serkantoto) April 18, 2022

9) Now the price, which still makes my heart bleed.

The shares were sold for what is the equivalent of US$22.5 million today.

So in 2014, From's valuation was well below US$30 million.

The devil is in the details, but the price was very likely a total joke back then already.

— Dr. Serkan Toto / Kantan Games Inc. (@serkantoto) April 18, 2022

Japanese multimedia company Kadokawa Corporation, parent company of FromSoftware, has announced that it has entered into a capital alliance with Sony, and with Japanese digital advertising company CyberAgent (via Gematsu). Both companies have been issues 1,422,475 shares for Kadokawa Corporation each, giving each of them a 1.93% ownership of the company.

Kadokawa intends to leverage this new partnerships with development and rollout of IP in games and animation, through the creation, development, and acquisition of new properties (which could also potentially include buyouts of content and IP holders), as well as continued development of currently existing IP, with a focus on global rollout and expansion of properties. All three companies will, as a result of the alliance, mutually make use of each other’s “business, expertise, and other strengths” for growth in relevant areas.

Kadokawa Corporation is involved in multiple multimedia projects across video games, films, animation, manga, light novels, tabletop role playing games, and more.

The ongoing consolidation of the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One userbase continues. While cross platform play has typically been the most visible result of Xbox and Nintendo playing nice with each other, here’s something else that might manage to catch the attention of even those who otherwise would claim to not care for cross platform play: RPG Maker MV, which is launching on consoles later this year, and will allow its players to make and share their own RPGs, will be cross compatible on Xbox One and Switch, Famitsu reports (translated via Nintendo Everything).

What this means is, if you are on Xbox, you can share your RPG with other Xbox and Switch players, while also being able to play creations by Switch owners. Similarly, if you are a Switch owner, you can play Xbox owners’ creations, and share yours with them. It’s a fantastic situation, because there’s more potentially great user generated content for you now.

I don’t know if Sony will allow the PS4 version to interact with the Xbox and Nintendo versions (probably not), but I do hope that the PC version, at least, can interact with Xbox and Switch. RPG Maker MV launches on Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch later this year. It is already available on PC.

From Software parent company Kadokawa Corporation will also be hosting its own E3 press conference on June 13th at 1:30 PM JST/9:30 PM PST on June 13th.

The presser will be taking place in Tokyo and as per Gematsu, it will offer new information on titles like “Demon Gaze 2, God Wars: Beyond Time, Root Letter, and so on.” It’s also possible that information on The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd Evolution may also be revealed.

Of course, since Kadokawa owns From Software, that could also mean the announcement of a new game. The Dark Souls developer has confirmed working on some new IPs but with Dark Souls 3 having been recently released, will any of these titles be ready to showcase at E3 2016?

Whatever ends up being showcased, this year’s E3 is shaping up to be an excellent event. Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft and EA have been confirmed along with Bethesda, the PC Gaming Show and Nintendo. What are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.