FromSoftware’s Parent Company Could Be Sony’s Next Big Purchase

On Sunday, reports have heated up that allege Sony is looking to buy the Elden Ring developer FromSoftware’s parent company, Kadokawa.

Sony has been digging deeper into the anime space since buying Crunchyroll in 2021, and reports surfaced this Tuesday that suggest the company that produces the PlayStation 5 will be shopping in the market again for a much bigger company. It’s no secret that Sony already owns 2% of the stock in the Kadokawa company (and 16% of FromSoftware), and a report from Reuters has surfaced today that claims they want to buy the FromSoftware parent company outright.

Kadokawa remains the largest shareholder of FromSoftware, with a controlling 69% stake of holdings currently held by the company, while Tencent holds 14% and Sony holds 16%. Outside of being the parent company for FromSoftware, Kadokawa is a company renowned in the anime space and has existed since 1945, founded by Genyoshi Kadokawa. While the company underwent restructuring in 2014, it has retained virtually the same identity and maintains a large presence in the Anime, Gaming, Film and Publishing markets.

It’s worth mentioning the two biggest game console companies, Sony and Microsoft, have been on a buying spree lately. The house that built the PlayStation has been slowly building up its count of internal studios since purchasing BluePoint Games (the developers responsible for the Demon’s Souls remake) and Destiny 2 developers Bungie Studios. Microsoft hasn’t slowed down either, with the largest company purchase in Video Game history by purchasing Activision Blizzard for $69 billion.

Since the reports have gone live, Google Finance has reported Kadokawa stock has seen a meteoric rise of 23% at their daily limit. Its market capitalization was near $2.7 billion prior to the reports Tuesday. Sony’s shares on the other hand closed up 0.6% (a large number for a huge company).

Kadokawa has not made a statement yet regarding reports of a potential purchase.