In recent years, Microsoft has turned the world of video games upside down, making numerous acquisitions, the most spectacular obviously being that of the giant Activision-Blizzard, allowing (among other things) the American group to offer the latest Call of Duty Black Ops 6 directly. on Xbox Game Pass. On the PlayStation side, we are currently discussing the possibility of a takeover of a Japanese conglomerate born in 1945, namely Kadokawa, which notably owns the From Software studio.
From Software soon to be a member of the PlayStation Studios family?
For several years now, video game enthusiasts have been accustomed to seeing the From Software logo displayed on their screen… and preparing to suffer. Indeed, the Japanese studio is behind titles such as Dark Souls, Sekiro, Demon’s Souls and the very popular Elden Ring. Some titles are also exclusive to the PlayStation ecosystem, such as Bloodborne or the remake of Demon’s Souls (which also benefits from certain improvements on PS5 Pro).
As for Sony, in addition to being able to count From Software among its PlayStation Studios, the acquisition of Kadokawa would also allow the Japanese giant to strengthen its offer in the publishing and animation market, Sony already being in charge from Crunchyroll or Funimation. At present, no official announcement has been made, but the Reuters agency cites two sources close to the matter.
According to Reuters, “if Sony bought Kadokawa (parent company of From Software), the brand would then have an 84% stake in FromSoftware, but also Spike Chunsoft and Acquire.” For the record, Spike Chunsoft is notably at the origin of the recent Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, while Acquire is at the helm of the latest Mario & Luigi: The Fraternal Epic, available exclusively on Nintendo Switch.
It remains to be seen whether Sony will officially expand its entertainment portfolio by acquiring Kadokawa in the coming months. For two years, Kadokawa has owned 69.66% of FromSoftware’s shares, Sony also being in the game with its 14.09% (not counting Kadokawa’s 2%). So to be continued.
In the meantime, at Sony, we are going to come and celebrate the 30th anniversary of PlayStation with a wide range of collector’s products. The PS5 Slim and PS5 Pro will obviously be in the spotlight, without forgetting the DualSense controller, but also the PlayStation Portal remote playback device, particularly practical for parents (and others) who cannot necessarily play on their Smart TV as they would like.
