Reuters news agency reports that Sony is in negotiations to purchase the media company Kadokawa, which owns the publishing house Studio Animate, as well as multiple anime and game studios including FromSoftware.
Founded in 1945, Kadokawa, also known as Kadokawa Shoten, currently owns publishing houses and anime studios such as ASCII Media Works, Enterbrain, and Media Factory. The game studios under its umbrella include Spike Chunsoft and FromSoftware (of which Kadokawa holds approximately 70% shares) and Acquire, the studio behind Octopath Traveler, which was acquired earlier this year.
Sony has made two rounds of investments in Kadokawa. The first one in 2021 saw them acquiring a 2% stake, and the second round in 2022, in collaboration with Tencent, resulted in a 30% stake in FromSoftware. While official details are yet to be revealed, Sony’s current CEO, Kenichiro Yoshida, has expressed the desire to invest in franchises beloved by fans, as it would be a long-term investment spanning over 100 years.
Source: Reuters, IGN
TLDR: Sony is reportedly in talks to acquire Kadokawa, a media company with anime and game studios, including FromSoftware, showing interest in long-term investments in beloved franchises.
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