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Kadokawa confirms Sony sent an acquisition letter

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
I don't know why is people concerned with Miyazaki "losing his freedom" lol
Sony let him do his artsy game Déraciné, he even went on to say a few years ago that Bloodborne was his favorite game to make because he did what we wanted to do.

Edit: Here's the article
Don't pay much attention. Some folks are just panicking on the prospect of From's games going PS/PC exclusive. They'll say anything.
 
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Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
I think people need to come to terms with the fact that there probably will never be another FromSoftware release on Xbox ever again.

Though if I were Sony, I would leverage some content for the sale of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon.

Helldivers 2 and Elden Ring 2 in exchange for the sale of those IP that Microsoft largely is going to ignore anyways.
I doubt Sony cares about either Crash or Spyro at this point. Those aren't big sellers anymore. Sony's own Astrobot outsold them. They could just invest in that, instead of bartering for IPs with their direct competitor.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
I doubt Sony cares about either Crash or Spyro at this point. Those aren't big sellers anymore. Sony's own Astrobot outsold them. They could just invest in that, instead of bartering for IPs with their direct competitor.

Astro Bot hasn't outsold those IP's at their peak.

Sony wants more IP. These have legacy value.

Not complex.
 

ergem

Member
Could not agree more. Sony would be nuts to not have a remake ready or a sequel. Now that the Souls games are mainstream thanks to Elden Ring, that would probably have a Bloodborne game do crazy well in contrast to the original 10 years ago.

I have a theory that Sony has one, and they’re timing a release window since Elden Ring is still fresh. Or at least hopes and dreams 😂
Or Bloodborne remake will be a launch title for PS6
 

hyperbertha

Member
People saying Sony would suddenly turn this company woke need a serious IQ test.

You guys seriously believe Sony doesn't know how incredibly dumb that would be?

Do you really think they haven't analyzed the market to know that turning a company that deals primarily with Anime and Manga into some Californian woke friendly business would be the stupidest idea ever?

Did they not just took the biggest L ever in gaming due to Wokeness this year with Concord and immediately axed it and sent it right into the shitter along with the entire dev team?

I know some of you are joking but come on people, they aren't THAT incompetent.
The fact that they released Concord in the first place should tell you how stupid modern Sony is. Yes they are going to do all the stupid things you mention. They got BlackRock to fund them.
 

MMaRsu

Member
Only played a couple hours of Demon's Souls remake, but it's a testament to Sony's skills in that department, to still have people to this day say it's one of the best looking games on PS5. And it's been like over 4 years at this point.

Yeah but the artstyle and shit is fucked up
 

KàIRóS

Member
The fact that they released Concord in the first place should tell you how stupid modern Sony is. Yes they are going to do all the stupid things you mention. They got BlackRock to fund them.

And the fact that they shut down Concord and fired everyone involved in it in a single month should tell you how quickly they realized it was a mistake.

Listen, companies this big are always analyzing the market for potential profit and Sony has been acquiring companies involved in the anime industry since the 2010s so they are likely making this purchase because of Kadokawas huge involvement in Anime and Manga but none of those companies have had this woke change or whatever, none, so all those claims of Sony suddenly ruining companies (at least the japanese ones) are literally unfounded, fake news, Anime and Manga produced by Kadokawa will still have huge titty waifus and From Software will still have full freedom over their games because that already works for them it's what makes money, so Sony won't come and change that, it would be stupid, illogical from any financial perspective.

Again, like I said on that post you replied to, Sony has definitely shown some incompetence recently, but they are also not THAT incompetent, trust me they are the first ones who want to make money.
 
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Varteras

Member
I hope Sony completely fucks up FROM just to send you retards into a severe clinical depression
Jokes on you. Not only am I already there, I'm into that shit too

asshat jerk off GIF
 
I don't care if a clown doesn't take me seriously. They have been trash since about 2018 after gow and getting worse. Gow2 and sm2 were woke nonsense. They will ruin fromsoft games with wokeness.

I expect Sony had little to do with the wokeness in those two games - they were both developed in incredibly wealthy parts of California so will most likely be a product of their environment.

If From are developing in Japan - nothing will change (as with Stellar Blade developed in South Korea).
 
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DavidGzz

Member
The worst thing that could happen is that all of a sudden FSoft games have development times similar to Naughty Dog games because of their budget. I do love how fast it seems that FS works so that would be a shame. Full exclusives for years and years would also suck. 1 year exclusives with added Sony quality, and I am down.
 

Gojiira

Member
Fantastic news, From will literally be Playstations RPG house, and considering how close they have been since the PS1 LAUNCH this will have been a long time coming.
Oh and them sending the letter signals that they’ve been in talks for quite some time and likely a tentative deal has already been agreed on. Huge win when this goes through.
 

yazenov

Gold Member
That's a good move by Sony. They should invest more in Asian Pub/devs than the Western ones IMO.

Sony needs more Japanese/Korean/Chinese developers . I welcome our Asian overlords.

That Bungie and Firewalk purchase was a trash investment.
 

Varteras

Member
That's a good move by Sony. They should invest more in Asian Pub/devs than the Western ones IMO.

Sony needs more Japanese/Korean/Chinese developers . I welcome our Asian overlords.

That Bungie and Firewalk purchase was a trash investment.

Firewalk? Absolutely. Bungie? I could see that still being worthwhile long term.
 

yazenov

Gold Member
Firewalk? Absolutely. Bungie? I could see that still being worthwhile long term.

Maybe in the future but the delays of Marathon and layoffs at Bungie are not looking good, and people are sick and tired of these GAAS games IMO.

Also, I think their purchase price was extremely overpriced for what they are worth due to Sony's panic mode over MS's purchase of Activision (COD). They could have gotten a lot of better studios for that price. $3.6 billion :poop:
 
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Varteras

Member
Here's an interesting analysis on /r/GamingLeaksAndRumours about why this might be happening.



Yep. The people left in charge after the family was ousted are probably looking for a deal that is much more beneficial to them than Kakao simply taking over. Sony was an obvious choice because of how much the companies overlap, already being in a capital alliance, and Totoki likely looking to bolster Sony's outputs with a proven track record after their more recent acquisition disasters.
 

Dr.Morris79

Member
Some of From's finest works came through their partnerships with Sony, so your doom and gloom has no basis to it at all.

In fact, the more likely outcome is that their games are going to be objectively better by having access to the support infrastructure and production values of all other first-party PlayStation games.
umxkscE.gif


Let's just pretend that Sonys output lately hasnt been utterly shit.
 

midnightAI

Member
Interesting only because there is no evidence for Kakao attempting a hostile takeover, the reddit poster made it all up (maybe to support a particular narrative here).
Yeh, I'd say that's unlikely, Sony have more shares in kadokawa than Kakao do. However, now they have said that they are willing to sell, or even actively looking for a buyer, it is possible Kakao may be interested just the same as Sony is, but I don't think this is anything to do with a hostile takeover.
 
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ShaiKhulud1989

Gold Member
Here's an interesting analysis on /r/GamingLeaksAndRumours about why this might be happening.


Problem is, it’s almost impossible for a foreign entity to buy a Japanese company like Kadokawa, by hostile takeover or with money. There are laws and a lot of unspoken rules in place to prevent that. Kadokawa is more likely seeking a Japanese-based buyer and very little companies outside of Sony have both the cash and adjacent interests for this type of merger to work. I’d say it’s almost a done deal at this point, that’s why leaks and official letters are spreading out so freely. Japanese big corpo culture is just not the same as the western one.
 
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Yeh, I'd say that's unlikely, Sony have more shares in kadokawa than Kakao do. However, now they have said that they are willing to sell, or even actively looking for a buyer, it is possible Kakao may be interested just the same as Sony is, but I don't think this is anything to do with a hostile takeover.

You're probably thinking of their FROM ownership. Sony only has 2% for kadokawa. Kakao is the single largest shareholder.
 

midnightAI

Member
You're probably thinking of their FROM ownership. Sony only has 2% for kadokawa. Kakao is the single largest shareholder.
Ah, yeh, think I am, still, what do they have? 8%? That's hardly getting close to hostile takeover territory (although Kadokawa have more info than I do about that situation of course)
 

killatopak

Gold Member
Problem is, it’s almost impossible for a foreign entity to buy a Japanese company like Kadokawa, by hostile takeover or with money. There are laws and a lot of unspoken rules in place to prevent that. Kadokawa is more likely seeking a Japanese-based buyer and very little companies outside of Sony have both the cash and adjacent interests for this type of merger to work. I’d say it’s almost a done deal at this point, that’s why leaks and official letters are spreading out so freely. Japanese big corpo culture is just not the same as the western one.
I’d say Nintendo technically can but I definitely don’t think they are interested in the Anime side of things as much as Sony is.
 

KiteGr

Member
Well... Shit!

Nothing good will come from this.

  • Sony takes From and Miyazaki and the rights of many anime and studios:
    • They leave them to do their thing and nothing changes besides some support in terms of budget or talent. This is the best case scenario, thought the PC support will suffer.
    • They start butting their noses on the projects, requesting woke changes and devaluing all existing anime and game franchises and being unable to produce anything worthwhile afterwards. It's a loose/loose situation.
  • Sony gets Kadokawa, but the talent from the anime and games divisions leave. They only got beloved licences without the means to continue them. Meanwhile the talent left tries to open their own game/anime studios, but without the budget, support from old staff and existing IPs they are a shadow of their former selfs.
 

kaizenkko

Member
Well... Shit!

Nothing good will come from this.

  • Sony takes From and Miyazaki and the rights of many anime and studios:
    • They leave them to do their thing and nothing changes besides some support in terms of budget or talent. This is the best case scenario, thought the PC support will suffer.
    • They start butting their noses on the projects, requesting woke changes and devaluing all existing anime and game franchises and being unable to produce anything worthwhile afterwards. It's a loose/loose situation.
  • Sony gets Kadokawa, but the talent from the anime and games divisions leave. They only got beloved licences without the means to continue them. Meanwhile the talent left tries to open their own game/anime studios, but without the budget, support from old staff and existing IPs they are a shadow of their former selfs.
Sony have one of the best talent retention in the industry, this type of assumption is just nonsense.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
That's my point. Those IPs are well past their peak / high. That's why I said "Those aren't big sellers anymore."

What once was can be again...

IP comeback all the time, especially with transmedia, which Sony is leaning into more these days than they did in the past.

Tomb Raider was massively popular and then it wasn't but then it was again (and now it isn't again).
 

Varteras

Member
Soooo...when is this getting confirmed?
Kadokawa already confirmed they received a letter of acquisition intent from Sony. They really can't say more right now. As for when negotiations could be finalized, assuming they agree, could be weeks or months from now.
 
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