Sony Reportedly In Talks To Acquire FromSoftware Parent Company Kadokawa

[@MyManJFKTV]

I’m under the impression that Sony wants to be closer to monopolizing anime in the west, and if this acquisition goes thru, they’ll be that much closer.

[@ksatmata]

there is no anime monopoly, anime itself is smaller part of video entertainment. even if sony control every anime, they can't be considered as monopoly because there are bigger marketshare in video entertaiment.

[@adayexpired6370]

Crunchyroll has sucked last 2 seasons and I hate that Sony removed all comments from Crunchyroll due solely to woke/dei reasons. I used to love and champion the idea of Sony buying Kadokawa years ago, even when nobody even thought of it, but seeing how Sony is messing up Crunchyroll, it makes me nervous.

[@MyManJFKTV]

@@ksatmata - I know there isn’t a monopoly with anime, but how it’s imported to the western market is a fairly small operation compared to video entertainment in general. Sony already has a stronghold of the west receives anime with their ownership of Funimation and Crunchyroll, and if they turn their 14% ownership of Kadokawa into 100% ownership, they’ll have a LOT more pull in how anime is distributed.

[@MyManJFKTV]

@@adayexpired6370 - In all honesty, I want Sony to take their HQ out of California and back to Japan.

[@juanrubio6132]

They want to buy Japanese IPs so they can censor it.

[@Sponch1]

Many need to understand that Games is only a small part of Kadokawa. I would look at this as more of an extension of Sony's purchases of Funimation and Crunchyroll. Kadokawa publishes and owns a large amount of Manga and Anime, being more well known for that than gaming. Fromsoft would be more of a bonus than the main purpose of this purchase. Also people should know that Kadokawa does not have the best reputation in Japan, many viewing the company similarly to how we view EA or Ubisoft.

[@spark556]

Bro they are getting FromSoftware with this, stop complaining 😂

[@AzureAlufei]

@@spark556 Getting Elden Ring and Fromsoft is definitely big and no one is downplaying that. But the reality is that Kadokawa is known and is more profitable for their production and distribution of anime, novels and manga. Either way, the TLDR would mean that the monopoly that Sony has on Anime distribution has only grown larger seeing as they bought out and merged their competition.

[@pablocasas5906]

@@spark556 Kadokawa also owns other video game developers like Spike Chunsoft (Danganronpa) and Accquire (Mario & Luigi: Brothership), while From Software generates a lot of profit for Kadokawa, Sony would not acquire the entire company just for From, it's kind of similar to when Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, while Disney got the rights for some Marvel franchises like the X-Men and Fantastic Four, the deal was for all of Fox's IPs and which included things like Alien, Predator, Avatar, X-Files, The Simpsons, etc.

[@icedcapplord710]

@@pablocasas5906 Also streaming. Like they notably made that acquisition ahead of Disney+'s introduction and they were basically securing content for that library by having all the Fox stuff available on day one and access to their various studios for new content. Not just Fox themselves but also stuff like Searchlight

[@mineralwater6736]

The west ruined anime and manga. Hopefully this will get rid some of you.

[@key099able]

Well you forget about that Aniplex is a game publisher themselves, they haven’t put out much but that includes Type-Moon output like Fate/GO, Demon slayer games and as recently Venture to the Vile, so if this happens they will probably combine the Aniplex umbrella with Kadokawa.

[@ShamirQushairi]

Gaming corporations: Make big acquisitions ✅ Maintain existing studios & developers ❌

[@aganbraganca4156]

thats xbox thing sony build their game studio on their own

[@danijelmilosevic3565]

Concord literally happened like two monts ago and like two weeks the developer studio that got purchased by Sony shut down 😂😂 ​@@aganbraganca4156

[@meongkampfgruppe9199]

Sony is not just gaming company, they already have near monopoly on anime distribution and streaming in the west

[@OneRandomVictory]

@@aganbraganca4156 They did get rid of London Studio, Pixelopus, and Japan Studio (a portion of which was formed into Asobi) not too long ago.

[@JonMow]

they buying the game IP, not the developers. to these business men, all developers are the same

[@craigsampson3386]

I really wish Microsoft/Xbox didn't start this chain reaction of them buying up others and exclusivity, forcing Sony to do the same...

[@vectoralphaSec]

Its Competition. One company does something it forces the other companies to do the same.

[@TT-tn6mh]

That's would increase Xbox game pass to 999.99$ / month

[@fakifak]

@@craigsampson3386 absolutely thinking the same. Xbox bought sony into a corner. They got no choice to buy some other studios. Sucks for the people and talent, parents argue and the employees get fired in the process. Why not just leave it as is and have it on multiple places!

[@AnEyeRacky]

​@@vectoralphaSec lol and? He said he wishes Microsoft didn't start it though...

[@craigsampson3386]

​@@vectoralphaSecyes, but sometimes competition can also be a bad thing and in this case it's definitely got some bad mixed in with it.

[@nice_bnuuy]

They're not doing this for FromSoftware, they're doing this for anime and manga. This is terrible, because currently Sony basically has a monopoly on anime distribution, especially in the west, and this would make it even worse. When Funimation was merged into Crunchyroll, people lost any purchased digital products on Funimation and Sony's response was telling people to cry about it.

[@dnice4145]

Both things can be true. They're buying all of their assets including their biggest one from software.

[@VampireNoblesse]

Disney has a monopoly on Star Wars & Marvel.., do what you gotta do.. ... and ABK is still way bigger and MS was allowed to aqcuire them.. ...

[@MN-jw7mm]

Censored anime, neutered games, mishandled user data, higher costs. That's modern Sony.

[@nice_bnuuy]

@@VampireNoblesse I'm not defending the ABK deal, but there were tons of stipulations and legal hurdles that Microsoft had to resolve to be allowed to purchase them. Sony actively has a monopoly on anime distribution and this would literally make it even worse.

[@Vss077]

indeed, "cry about it." thats what people also love about digital goods. nothing else u can do though. Even with negatives u also have some positives. like Steam. everyone hated to require to be always online & type a 1 time license key in order to play the game, account bounded, cant resell etc. . now everyone is praising the platform for only to have 1 account, always access to their libary. its a "marketplace" platform but also a monopoly that is way too big to have any reasonable competitor. All what the consumer can do is sit back, wait & watch. Also on side when Microsoft acquired 100 brands nobody was complaining either & seen as good thing. while the ones who complained got talked down. When Sony tries to acquire a studio its a monopoly & bad. - so expect competitors to also get their slice of bread & it might be an even bigger one.

[@LeoDragoGR]

This is not good for anime and manga fans. Point blank. Crunchyroll, Funimation buyout and then the horrendous merger was a clear indication

[@AnEyeRacky]

I don't see the connection there at all. Please elaborate

[@nichifix]

​@AnEyeRacky Kadokawa is a media conglomerate that heads the production of at least 60% of the anime industry. They fund and are on many of the committees that produce anime. They also own the one of the biggest manga and light novel publishers.

[@AnEyeRacky]

@@nichifix thanks

[@MN-jw7mm]

More censorship and brazenly ideological mistranslations of anime, and corrupt and anti-consumer business practices. Anyone who celebrates this celebrates cultural vandalism and price gouging.

[@nothing2069]

Sony is better than netflix, Disney, and amazon. By a mile. . Could be worst

[@The_Wailing_Doom]

I am not a fan of industry consolidation, but this one actually makes sense and is the righting of a wrong since Sony foolishly let From Software (and Quantic Dream, for that matter) get away all those years ago. Sony can't sit idly by while their competitor buys up the whole industry. At minimum, Sony is buying up things that are a natural fit. Microsoft just buys whatever they can get away with.

[@plaidchuck]

PSA: Sony doesnt need FromSoft to do anything with Bloodborne

[@sopor0]

True but to have them under the SONY PS banner it will likey get done! They will have fromsoft work on it much easier ;)

[@YouTubeUser_-xt8dt]

If it wasnt for Sony, we’d have a bloodborne remaster and pc port years ago, sony doesnt fucking care about fromsoftware

[@LargenLarks]

​@@sopor0SONY FANBOY DETECTED

[@TheSoxor123]

I hope that when Sony finally gets From, they release Bloodborne, Bloodborne 2, Bloodborne Remastered, Bloodborne movie, and Bloodborne anime, so you guys finally shut up about that game.

[@paranoidandroid___1248]

Honestly I’d rather Sony snag them than the likes of Tencent or Embracer. Rather it not happen at all, but I feel like they would be a better fit for Sony than anyone else.

[@BetaCypher]

Based take

[@imacg5]

I don't think people really know what Kadokawa stands for. It's one of Japan's top 5 publishing companies AND one of top 5 film studios. And it own majority of From Software.

[@kainairsoft2331]

Absolutely true.

[@paranoidandroid___1248]

@@imacg5 💯 I had no idea how big they were myself, and I only found out when the news of Sony and Tencent investing in them in 2022 came about. One thing I will say I’d LOVE to see happen if this purchase goes thru is a legitimate Bloodborne sequel from FS. If there was any hope of a sequel happening before then this would most certainly set things in motion if they’re not already.

[@fattiger6957]

Embracer isn't really in the position to buy anyone anymore. The company is falling apart. They had to sell Gearbox to TakeTwo.

[@SuaveSpyMojo]

If Sony buys Kadokawa, i'd expect all other FromSoftware titles to become entirely exclusive for Playstation, with PC releases down the road, once they've moved enough Playstation hardware. These games would sell systems and they know it. A reasonable period of absolute Playstation exclusivity makes sense.

[@amronfaro9728]

Also both Sony and FromSoftware had a good partnership since the PS1 days, which could be beneficial to the acquisition.

[@yoyothemanman]

I dont care if they released Bloodborne 2 exclusive to PS5 *tomorrow,* Sony's smoking crack if they think Fromsoft will push console sales by any meaningful amount. Elden Ring is their biggest game ever and even that's a niche title. Games dont receive 'hype' anymore, and I cant think of a single franchise (outside of COD and maybe GTA?) left that can still sell consoles. Gears/God of War/Halo etc. arent as popular as they were previous generations, and the heavy hitters we _do_ have are all multi-plat. (APEX, CoD, GTA, Minecraft, Baldur's Gate 3, Destiny etc)

[@user-ra8ia7ag4w]

@@yoyothemanman elden ring is one of the best selling games of all time... in what world is it niche????

[@yoyothemanman]

@user-ra8ia7ag4w It's a souls-like. That's a niche. A niche game can be popular. All that means is that the game specializes in a particular area of the market Though I have no idea why Elden Ring sold more than Sekiro/AC6 or any of the DS games, despite it being nearly identical

[@theHaba99]

Fromsofts souls games are my favourite game genre ever, but there is not a slightest chance id buy playstation just to play them.

[@johncra8982]

I don't care about fromsoft much anymore, so the games don't affect me, but the anime consultation is a nightmare because Sony is full to the brim with western people that should never be allowed to touch anime production, much less monopolize it. if this does end up going through, I hope it's followed by a restructuring that moves Sony's leadership back to Japan in a major way, and I say that as someone that doesn't even watch modern anime shows.

[@debbiebost5139]

I hate rumors they always spiral out of control I wish we could get some more proof

[@TheMusic4Soul]

Its from Reuters, not some dude on Twitter.

[@BigOnAnime94]

Kadokawa has now published an official statement confirming Sony has approached them about acquiring them, news articles have been updated with this.

[@debbiebost5139]

@@BigOnAnime94 thanks

[@nolifebr]

Sony and From supposedly signed a deal to have a new "first party" game years ago (even before Elden Ring as released, If I'm not mistaken), according to some "insiders". Hulst confirmed that Sony's point in acquiring 14% of From Software was to have more game collaborations, besides having the possibility of making something with PS Productions, so it's not like From would refuse to work exclusively for Sony again.

[@bakanonii-chan4117]

As much as I love aniplex (Sony jp anime division), Sony group acquiring kadokawa would be a huge disaster for the industry, aniplex has pretty much most of the most popular anime already and sony also have crunchyroll as the biggest anime streaming platform, and kadokowa has a near monopoly on the light novel sector this will just make Sony dominate the anime sector more they already does.

[@victory7763]

That means this is good

[@MyManJFKTV]

This guy gets it.

[@bakanonii-chan4117]

@@victory7763 monopoly is the contrary of good , they will be able to raise price etc because they have most of the industry

[@ahsanvirk130]

​@victory7763 Not at all, this is the worst thing to happen

[@victory7763]

@bakanonii-chan4117 well that's why I voted for Trump. I want prices to go up and watch people complain, so this is more of what I want

[@LeftattheStation]

It's worked so well with Bungie, Firewalk, Firesprite, Savage Studios, and Haven Studios! Let's do it again!

[@richardcarson3596]

this is what it takes to remaster bloodborne 💀

[@lutherheggs451]

I hate to break it to you, Sony has always owned 100% of the Bloodborne IP. They could literally remaster it ANY TIME they want, they don't need FromSoft or anyone else to approve it

[@ELASIRI]

​@lutherheggs451yes but they need fromsoftware to work on it since they do souls the best.

[@n3r0dmc4]

@@ELASIRIJust like how Demon’s Souls got the Remake, Sony made FromSoftware do it.

[@DaHoneyBadgr]

@@ELASIRIfromsoftware has opened up multiple times to working with sony to remaster the game. Sony took no action. At the very best, we could get one as a PS6 exclusive. If not, it will never happen

[@zelectrode3337]

They literally told us to stop asking, so a Bloodborne remaster is never happening

[@aeolussvichi7680]

If this is true, and they do make another Demons or Bloodborne, I can see them being exclusive to the PS, that makes sense. But ES 2 I can see that one being on PC at some point, or maybe even day and date. I don’t it going to what Xbox is now though.

[@asuna07neros]

Not really a big fan of acquisitions, regardless if it's from Sony or MS. If this goes through, Sony will soon have a monopoly over the anime and manga industry and that's very concerning. If this is just FromSoftware we are talking about then I'm ok with it but Kadokawa is more than just FS if you look at the bigger picture here

[@AzureAlufei]

Sadly this most likely was been in the works and planning for years in terms of strategic acquisitions. Starting with the Funimation merge/buyout into just one entity as the Crunchyroll streaming service as their main focus for anime/manga/novel distributors. With this their publishing and distribution lead over everyone else just exploded. Surprised? Not really, it just makes me more wary of digital purchases and the act of ownership with physical.

[@dochedgehog]

Who actually cares… Like everyone keeps going on about how Microsoft should own everything so it’s on one platform. Doing the same for anime isn’t really a bad thing. What would you rather? 7 different services with their own subscriptions

[@ReMax-r2e]

I'd rather Sony buy them than microsoft

[@GrainGrown]

Neither.

[@ahsanvirk130]

Neither

[@Sky-gf8bd]

I don’t think ms can because it’s a Japanese company, otherwise ms would do it already 😂

[@MichaelM28]

@@GrainGrown Sony*

[@MichaelM28]

@@ahsanvirk130 Sony*

[@ahsanvirk130]

Hoping this doesn't go through, at this point I don't trust Soyny at all

[@stylinsandwich]

So many people are only looking at fromsoft and thinking that this would be healthy whike its the quite opposite. Kadokawa is one of the biggest JP publishers. They are involved in a majority of anime production committees, they have a monopoly over English LN and a decent pie in the manga business. Sony already owns Aniplex, one of the other big publishers in Anime. Ans with them owning CR and funimation this would give them unparalleled control over the anime sphere. Buying kadokawa would give them almost a monopoly. Also i want to note that this acquisition is being done by Sony music instead of Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation) so while sony could transfer ownership of fromsoft to SIE it'd probably be kept under Aniplex instead.

[@JezzmanGAMES]

If this ends up happening, this better not fuck up everything.

[@ahsanvirk130]

It will, Soyny can't be trusted to do anything right anymore

[@MN-jw7mm]

Spoiler alert: it will. A huge chunk of anime publishing will be under the authoritarian thumb of the most censorious player in the industry. One that also doesn't care about price gouging and literally taking digital goods away from people who have already purchased them (not renting/streamer, full purchases).

[@nicholasmendoza5844]

Spoiler alert: it will fuck up everything.

[@IsmaOnYouTube]

I think adding Fromsoftware to the PlayStation Studios family would be a massive upgrade! 💙

[@MinotoPPT2]

If this happens Elden Ring and many other games will need PSN on PC. Woo… 😑

[@cokelife5831]

Get that shit signed

[@cormacbyrne2210]

For those who think this is a good thing, i say think again. THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING. Sony is aiming for a massive monopoly in the entertainment world, and that should worry everyone. Monopolies always hurt the average Joe because without competition, the company can throw out low quality trash, and people will have no other option but to buy it. In addition, this is also an open attack at Nintendo, as Spike Chunsoft and Acquire both work on Nintendo products like Pokémon Mystery Dungeon and Mario & Luigi. Sony's acquisition of Kadokawa could destroy those franchises entirely. We've already seen the results of similar mass acquisitions like Microsoft and Embracer. The same trash decisions would likely repeat. This includes things like the mass layoffs of workers that we've seen from Microsoft, such as the Hi-Fi Rush debacle. THIS IS NOT GOOD.

[@erenjager6715]

Sony is better than Tencent or Kakao from South Korea.

[@erenjager6715]

In addition, they do not have a monopoly

[@mr.b1613]

Bloodborne 2!

[@Vizzy.787]

I'd much rather they not retread old ground. Bloodborne by itself it already a masterpiece imo

[@ThomastheDankEngine8900]

Any Xbox fan not cheerleading this acquisition hates competition.

[@HondaRR929]

Or is a major hypocrite 😂

[@MrWar2050]

Well, Xbox is going to keep acquiring phil said

[@ThomastheDankEngine8900]

@@HondaRR929why not both? 😂

[@ContrastCopy]

I hate corporate consolidation.

[@furtsmagee1513]

Have any complained? Or is this just whining by you?

[@CSSLN]

I hope that they don’t get from software, they are going to keep their games as exclusives and if bloodborne serves as an example their are never going to bother updating their games

[@MichaelM28]

Cope harder xbot

[@MichaelM28]

They literally remade Demon's Souls 4 years ago

[@cookingsauce8274]

So Xbox fans hate competition now?😂

[@1Dome]

​​@@cookingsauce8274pc gamers. And by the way Microsoft isn't making their first party games exclusive. They're letting even PlayStation users get on on the fun.

[@VernonParker]

This would be an entertainment disaster. They’ve already partially ruined the anime streaming world, don’t let them ruin and entire publishing business. Obviously I’m against it but I also see the brilliance of this potential business transaction.

[@adayexpired6370]

I loved this idea years ago but, now I’m skeptical becuase I feel like Sony has seriously messed up Crunchyroll lately. I hate how they blocked all comments on Crunchyroll due to woke/dei reasons. And I can materially feel anime quality has gone down significantly due to pressures from woke activism. Now, I’m 50/50 on the idea of Sony becoming a stronger monopoly over anime and manga. Scares me.

[@boomboominroom]

They blocked comments because of DEI reasons? You guys don’t even understand how insane you sound.

[@meeds7473]

Worth mentioning that this is of course Sony Group not SIE making this purchase. So FromSoft and Spike Chunsoft could remain outside the PS studios group. Additionally, Sony had $10B ready for a Zee merger in India, but that fell through at the last minute earlier this year. Meaning, they've had at least $10B ready for mergers and acquisitions for some time now

[@Kapono5150]

Organic growth let’s go !!!

[@bubububu4004]

Sony buying Kadokawa is still better than Tencent buying them.

[@Haz3dNightfall]

Sony has near total domination of the anime industry, AMC should buy Kadokawa instead so they can bolster HiDive's anime library and keep Crunchyroll in check from squeezing out all It's competitors.

[@Sin_Alder]

Weird to exclaim to the world that having your left leg cut off is better than your right leg, but you do you, I guess.

[@JC-hi8fk]

Xbox fans: Accusations are suddenly bad.

[@devansh3700]

Acquisition**

[@avgnfandon2]

Lets fix that grammar brother

[@jstyxx4110]

Xbox fans have had garbage games and console for almost a decade. Give them this one I guess lol.

[@victory7763]

Acquisitions*

[@MyManJFKTV]

Acupuncture*

[@Mercs_Beamers]

Microsoft fans can’t say a word. This deal would be minuscule compared with ABK and Zenimax/Bethesda. I hope Sony does it.

[@SarfLondonGeezer]

I need a Bloodborne 2 and a Demon Souls 2 .

[@cosmosofinfinity]

As much as I love those two games, I don't. They did all they needed to do with 1 game. I like that FromSoftware has been doing more new stuff lately ever since they said goodbye with Dark Souls III.

[@DevonChampion]

Ayeee new video on a mf Tuesday. Sony needs to cut you a check for all the work you put in.

[@michaelnight9162]

If Microsoft or Sony picks these guys up it’s cool we should all be happy, by all means don’t let the Chinese get em

[@aeolussvichi7680]

Why not? China Hero and Korean Hero games have been good so far and the others are looking very promising. But more to the point, since Kadakowa is a Japanese company, no one other than another Japanese company can acquire them as is their law. So you don’t have to worry anyone outside of Japan picking them up. That leaves Sony the best and probably only option, other than maybe Nintendo or Sega, but if the three, Sony is probably the only one who would do most with them since they can utilize them for more than just gaming but anime and manga too.

[@ContrastCopy]

@@aeolussvichi7680what are China and Korean hero games?

[@michaelnight9162]

@ i didn’t know about the Japanese law, if that’s the case wouldn’t otherwise countries have a problem with that? Not saying that Chinese can’t produce amazing games like wukong, thing is there’s no such thing as private companies in China. It’s all government owned, controlled and subsidized. There’s always a nefarious reason as to why they want to get their stuff into our hands trust me.

[@aeolussvichi7680]

@ I don’t see why other countries should have a say in what kind of corporate laws another country has. And what you just described is precisely why another country can’t buy and run a Japanese company in Japan unless it’s through shell company made within the country, but that would also be painfully obvious and the gov rent would probably step in to stop it.

[@michaelnight9162]

@@aeolussvichi7680 wouldn’t it give an unfair advantage if one country is allowed to make certain moves in another with no restrictions while another can limit outside influence on businesses that operate within their borders? The thing I described was the potential downside of doing business with china. We shouldn’t care about acquisitions as long as it’s not by a Chinese company. Just my thoughts

[@Level_Eleven]

Anime has been slowly circling the drain as it is-this will just expedite the process. Sony is crossing the line in the sand by even looking in the direction of FromSoftware, though. That shit pisses me off I won’t even lie

[@erenjager6715]

Why?

[@Thifurious]

The hypocrisy around this is disgusting. So many taking issue with it whom of which had cheered for the Bethesda and ABK acquisitions.

[@fattiger6957]

I'm not going to say it is certain or anything, but Kadokawa would be a good acquisition that would suit Sony well. Kadokawa is a multimedia company, just like Sony, with hands in many pies. Video games, anime, manga and film. Hell, maybe such an acquisition could finally be the imputes to get a new Gamera film.

[@LightStrife94]

Imo everyone who supported the ABK/Zenimax/Bethesda acquisitions can shove their concerns and complaints where the sun don’t shine

[@_aPaladin]

I agree but this is not good for Anime.

[@LightStrife94]

@@_aPaladin eh, I watch anime on multiple platforms and crunchy being one of my most used. I really don’t care.

[@D4rkKn1ght311]

I'm a PlayStation fan and this concerns me, not because of some console wars BS but I fear how they might gut FromSoftware and inject DEI into future projects. In no way will this benefit fans.

[@LightStrife94]

@@D4rkKn1ght311have you played Froms games?

[@D4rkKn1ght311]

​@@LightStrife94Yes, I've played Bloodborne, Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Sekiro and Armored Core. I know what makes them such unique experiences and I don't want that formula to change.

[@Fighting-Otaku]

Sony started with Michael Jackson.... then they destroy him, then gaming business. And they destroy it. Now anime.... And I bet they have one thing in mind.... To destroy it! :D

[@Aragorn7884]

Better than Bungie TBH 😅

[@kiooo9]

Sony owner, here, I really, really, really, really want you to keep your hands away from my anime. Period because like you, people are too sony, america just ruins everything that they f****** touch.

[@Shadowespeon17]

You own Sony? Also Sony aren't American. The Sony Group conglomerate HQ is still based in Japan.

[@kiooo9]

@Shadowespeon17 well, yes, sony is headquarters in japan.Sony pictures america is unfortunately headquartered in this place called los angeles, which has absolutely no idea what they are f****** doing

[@erenjager6715]

@@kiooo9 This has nothing to do with the anime thing. The anime stuff comes to Sony Music and they're in Japan

[@aeolussvichi7680]

This is their way of correcting their biggest fk up and mistake in 2009 when they let FromSoft skip through their fingers. That mistake cost them dearly and now they paying out the ass to fix it lol.

[@angermeans]

How exactly did it cost them dearly? Kodakawa owns a lot of things and even then they are only worth around 4bil. That is chump change for a company like Sony. Had Sony offered to buy From after Demons Souls they likely would had ruined dark souls (and every game after) anyways. These acquisitions are not good for the industry.

[@MichaelM28]

@@angermeans How would Sony have ruined FromSoft's games exactly? Are you forgetting who made Bloodborne???

[@exposednerve6382]

the only reason we got any of the cool shit they made is because sony didnt have them

[@aeolussvichi7680]

@@exposednerve6382 you do realize that Sony was the one who came to fromsoft with the idea of demons souls right? You have it backwards my friend. Should be thanking PS for what I assume is your first souls game Elden Ring. Shue Yoshida to be specific.

[@aeolussvichi7680]

@@angermeans how do you come to that conclusion when AFTER they let from soft slip through their fingers they then in 2015 came out with Bloodborne, arguably one of the best souls game if not the best? Please you need to get off the PS hate train and think for yourself.

[@VampireNoblesse]

If MS could take ABK, Sony should be allowed to take Kadokawa..

[@SpeakerBoxXx805]

Not if it means that Sony has a complete monopoly on Anime in the west. Microsoft did not

[@MichaelM28]

@@SpeakerBoxXx805 Microsoft has a complete monopoly on Western RPGs. Sony does not.

[@amronfaro9728]

If MS monopolize Western RPGs, then Sony would just take full control over Jrpgs, Japanese games and anime/manga in general.

[@BL104SW]

@@MichaelM28 The two biggest Western RPG's released in the last few years are Baldurs Gate 3 and Dragon Age: Veilguard. Neither owned by Xbox.

[@cokelife5831]

@@SpeakerBoxXx805cry to ya momma

[@curryking1]

They should buy them, they have a better working relationship than most studios and publishers, and it's better they don't get acquired by VC money or Microsoft types who will gut a company every year to make a balance sheet look slightly better, acquisitions are a part of business, no reason to be overly critical just because it's Sony

[@ContrastCopy]

I’m personally critical of it because it’s an acquisition. Maybe Sony is a better fit than most other companies, but an acquisition is an acquisition. I still don’t like corporate consolidation.

[@Dittoritos]

Considering how Bloodborne is still stuck on PS4 and locked to 30 fps, yeah I'd rather not have Sony own FromSoft thanks

[@BL104SW]

Sony just gutted several companies and laid off over a thousand people this year, including some from recently acquired companies.

[@NevermindMe77]

if Ryan reports it as well, the probably of this rumor being true is very high

[@ArthropodSpidey]

For the love of God, it's not "rooters." It's pronounced "roy-ters."

[@mikegutierrez7278]

Reuters

[@chris-hq2hd]

from and spike chunsoft are two of my favorite devs. it'd be interesting to see what sony would do with them. gotta imagine a PC port of demon's souls will test the water on PSN implementation and stuff like that. if bloodborne is more or less "locked" by from in some way, i wonder if this would also pave the way for that remake.

[@Tulipanzo]

Obviously I hope From remains multiplatform, but after all those unfunny "PS5 has no games" memes, there's a part of me that's like "fuck it, make it all exclusive"

[@kev1nno]

Well... If this goes through, I guess it's GGs for Spike Chunsoft and Acquire. There's no chance in hell Sony would be interested in keeping either of those running, since they don't exactly focus on the types of games that can sell 3 million+ copies on one platform :/ *Really* hope this doesn't happen

[@awolf7335]

this is for the people that keeps on reiterating, playstation plyrs: plays cinematic games When: fromsoftware has always, always been a 'ps staple' Its just a rumor peeps, but I hope they do, 4 the anime people complaining | doom posting, keep that same energy: on netflix & others.

[@awolf7335]

Those "People' Just stick w/ ur point & click shooters that you play 10hrs a day & let people who play hard games play 'hard games'.

[@Fonzflicks]

If I was a hardcore anime fan, I guess this would be good news, but I've yet to even open up the crunchy roll app. As for From Software, I don't really like playing these hard games, but can understand the appeal. I recognize this purchase is big like Microsoft buying Bethesda or Activision, but it doesn't really do anything for me.

[@saberzer094]

The best part of this is the Xbox and pc fanboy tears.

[@BL104SW]

lol. More than half of all Dark Souls and Elden Ring sales came from PC, and China is a big part of those sales. Sony isn't gonna drop this money on a purchase then lock out the biggest market for the games.

[@willjohnboy]

​@@BL104SWfor me it's not the pc tears for not having the game obviously they will it's their total freak out at the possibility of psn required for online, they like to call console players peasants yet console players pay more for games and online but want special treatment from sony to play their ip online 😂.

[@waffle.23]

@@willjohnboy yeah its peasant like to pay for a subscription to play online... not even mentioning that its not available in a bunch of countries. Console/pc wars is just pathetic, all that matters is average people being able to play the games they enjoy.

[@PaleRiderK]

If they buy Kadokawa and then control FromSoft I say let them still release their IP on all consoles except for the ones Sony already owns( Bloodborne Demons Souls Deracine )

[@aaronharrington8658]

Id rather Sony buy than Tencent.

[@Allstargamer1000]

Sony is rumored to do this, right? If they do this, it's not for Playstation, its for crunchyroll. Playstation has upset Sony with their blunders. That if they actually can afford it or just buy the animation division. I looked into the company, and it is complex. If they buy the whole company, including Fromsoftware, they wouldn't solely own Fromsoftware. I believe Fromsoftware will still be a third party since Elden Ring sold 25 million on 3 platforms, and their last 2 Playstation exclusives were flops in comparison. Plus, does Bandai Namco still own publishing rights to Elden Ring? They might have something to say. I remember Sunset Overdrive developer saying that they own the ip, but Microsoft owns publishing rights. I wonder if Fromsoftware made the same deal with Bandai Namco to ensure the future of selling double-digit millions of copies on multiplatforms. Fromsoftware games don't sell well one platform. Proof is demon souls, Bloodbourne, and VR title. I don't put armor core because that's a different animal because that's for mecha fans.

[@thelegandgamer2830]

From software has the full rights to elden ring ip they just bought it from Bandai Namco before the release of elden ring dlc

[@SKOTxFREE]

Wow This is crazy if Sony can pull it off. kadokawa I didn’t even know was a majority stake holder of From Software. I know Kadokawa from their Anime one of which is Evangelion most notably. I hope they do it

[@xkiroxX]

Why bother? Everything is coming to Playstation now. Phil Spencer literally just said theres no red line when it comes to xbox ports to other consoles.

[@nabieladrian]

Phil really said "Exclusive don't matter" and Sony out here saying "Bet" 😂

[@cosmosofinfinity]

@@nabieladrian Bet... on those games coming to PC in a year Nintendo is the only one who has the guts/dignity to stay committed to their own hardware and IP anymore. Sony and Microsoft both are whoring themselves out to the streamer audience dipshits

[@D3D3D]

With this, Sony will become the god of anime.

[@ahsanvirk130]

Which shouldn't happen

[@yfw123]

Hopefully those titles won't go woke

[@D3D3D]

@@yfw123 I really hope they won't.

[@stylinsandwich]

​@@yfw123the acquisition is being done by Sony music not SIE so you don't need to worry about that but it's still not a good thing since it would give them a monopoly over anime publishing and distribution

[@MichaelM28]

@@yfw123 Why would they? It's Sony acquiring Kadokawa, not microsoft.

[@masterofIich]

I don’t get the anime concern. Kadokawa has no Dragonball, One Piece, Naruto or anything remotely close to. The big anime/manfa IPs are pretty well diversified across many stakeholders so it’s pretty much impossible we end up in a Disney situation even if someone were to own Shueisha

[@AchillesResolve]

So, let me understand this.... Microsoft can go out and in 1 single acquisition buy half the gaming industry and that's ok. But Sony, a company that sells consoles and TV's, own BluRay and is already a film distributor buys this and it's a bad thing? 8 don't understand why? Not that I care either way I'm just trying to figure out why it's ok for Microshaft but not ok for Sony?

[@plaidchuck]

bUt CEnSOrShiP!

[@nabieladrian]

Xbox is indie company sir 🥺

[@Super-Godzilla99]

what microsoft, disney, tencent and others did was also not ok not at all, and this will also be not ok. buying some other company is allways bad was allways bad and will be allways bad for the future. you see this everywhere allways.

[@Club-Dreamiverse]

So if this were to happen, Sony might as well have Kadokawa's anime studios absorbed with its own animation units like Sony Pictures Animation to form Kadokawa Animation Studios? And combine its own gaming studios (ones made in-house and ones bought by it) with Kadokawa's own to form a multiplatform gaming unit (either PlayStation Studios as before or Kadokawa Games or Spike Chunsoft). Not to mention them owning Gamera and Yokai Monsters now?

[@erenjager6715]

Kadokawa will be integrated into Sony Music because the other anime companies such as Crunchyroll, Aniplex and A1 Pictures are also there.

[@donk8931]

This would be huge!!

[@xxnike0629xx]

Just speaking from gaming, they own Spike Chunsoft (most recently Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero), FromSoftware (Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice | Elden Ring | Armored Core VI)., and Acquire. Maybe we'll see a Dark's Souls 1 2 3 remaster collection on PS5 and maybe Bloodborne PS5?

[@willjohnboy]

The Dark souls ip is owned by Bandai Namco not fromsoft.

[@Macktube]

If Xbox can buy Activision and Zenimax for Billions, then it's only fair Sony Buys Fromsoft and other publishers. Can't be able Hypocritical. I hope to deal goes through

[@TkoddaLee]

Do they have 60 billion to drop?😂😂😂

[@Cali_Sense]

I really hope this falls through. Sony bought funimation and cunchryrool and now funimation is dead and crunchryroll sucks. Look at what they did to spiderman and what they are doing to ghost of tsushima. I don't see anything good from this.

[@DaRkLoRd-rc5yu]

Hmm i'm more concerned from an anime point of view than about from software. They already bought out crunchyroll and funimation and aniplex Sony truly are a monopoly in the anime space And yet they arent doing something useful like saving gainax from going bankrupt through acquisition

[@MetroPlexGamer]

Blame Microsoft all you want but, you can also blame Sony for paying 3rd party companies like Capcom, Square Enix to avoid releasing Final Fantasy games and Street Fighter on Xbox. Sony was about to lock down Deathloop and Ghost Wire Tokyo on playstation until Microsoft put a stop to that by buying Bethesda. Activision Blizzard went to Sony first and asked to be purchased but they couldn't afford Activision. Sony instead bought Bungie and drove the company into the ground. Keep blaming Microsoft, you can thank for starting it all.

[@erenjager6715]

What a Bullshit🤣🤦🏻‍♂️

[@gablfz]

this would be bigger than xbox acquiring activision for me personally

[@MyManJFKTV]

No. This has more to do with anime/manga publishing, and might not sell for more than 4 billion.

[@jorelplay8738]

I never cared about Activision much, blizzard was already long dead. It is sad that they took all the studios under the Bethesda Softworks umbrella, games like Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein, evil within, and all of the Bethesda games studios IPs.

[@AzureAlufei]

@@MyManJFKTVOh it is. It would in term of publishing and distributing anime/novels/manga but the bonus of getting Fromsoft is still big.

[@cracmar03]

@@jorelplay8738 I was sooo mad that they were buying Bethesda. I HATE that Bethesda had to be turned into this console warring weaponry. Ugh. Their whole motto is that their games are for everyone ... don't get me started that Starfield had months on end hate campaigns before release solely because it was going to skip Playstation. Something that in leaks Bethesda itself was not pleased with.

[@christonchev9762]

@@cracmar03 we might all trash on Starfield but the game sold millions and even i bought it on PC

[@KingKarimYT]

This is what I feared the most when MS made back to back Big Acquisitions - Company will now be seeking even more acquistions to counter the other. Acquisition of big publishers at these level shouldn’t happened in the first place.

[@georgem2768]

I can’t stand acquisitions.

[@Super-Godzilla99]

you are not alone with that, many can`t stand acquisitions because they destroy everything.

[@mandarinamala6513]

Forget all that, I want to see another Tenchu!

[@RetroMythologist]

We are talking about the games, but with Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, Funimation, et al., adding Kodakawa makes sense from that angle as well.

[@Fourtytwo4242]

That a monopoly, they are creating a monopoly.

[@Alcatraz760]

While there is a chance Sony leaves Fromsoft alone like Bungie was left alone, I'm just tired of exclusivity this and exclusive that.

[@garrettwilkes1674]

I hated the Xbox acquisitions, and I hate this one, too. Screw Capitalists.

[@sargbarz]

Without Capitalism you wouldn't have companies like Sony and Xbox. What you should say is, "screw greed."

[@garrettwilkes1674]

@sargbarz it's true that without Capitalism we would likely not have Sony and Xbox as they exist now, but maybe it would be an entirely different and better industry altogether? One without Crunch and acquisitions and micro transactions and people running on hamster wheels -- I mean battle passes.

[@davidrenton]

@@garrettwilkes1674 the gaming industry (among most others) just would not exist without Capitalism. Games have always been made because of the ability to make a profit. Do you think under state control, the state would employ 1000 people to make a game that they what give away The level of progress in all areas is directly related to Capitalism, competition, lack of state control Imagine a non capitalist phone, it would be functional maybe, but it would be some brick from the 1990's. the Profit motive is the greatest innovator

[@dr.edwardrichtofen365]

The beautiful power of American Christian Capitalism™️😍😎🇺🇸🦅🛢️💰💣

[@garrettwilkes1674]

@davidrenton who's to say the State should do it either? I imagine a real decentralized gaming industry would look more like the homebrew, fan game, and modding scene.

[@KillSteelVol3]

9:51 they better put all these in The Classics Catalog

[@Patrick-tw7nr]

Finally Sony is looking to acquire a company that has a focus on single player games that people enjoy playing

[@drdrekek8284]

ELDEN RING ONLINE: MMO RPG

[@staticbonez]

And if Sony was smart they would just leave it alone. Just give the money for funding and don't interfere

[@vectoralphaSec]

90% of Sony studios are single player game studios making games people enjoy to play. Nothing new here.

[@AnEyeRacky]

​@@vectoralphaSec that was his point...

[@victory7763]

Finally Sony getting a worthwhile acquisition, unlike Bungie

[@JaySongz100]

Kadokawa seems like a perfect fit for Sony not just PlayStation and it's a Japanese company buying a Japanese company.

[@Lithium_82]

Seems like all these giants are buying up these developer studios only to close them down shortly after. Maybe I'm ignorant about the details.

[@nabieladrian]

On PlayStation side, single-player doing fine, only the live service bombed. On Xbox side, yeah how did you just shut down Arkane lmao 🤣

[@binshakbooga9238]

@@nabieladrian arkane(dishonored/deathloop/Blade) are still open, but arkane austin(redfall/prey) are closed

[@CuriousON3]

Looking forward for your opinion regarding the recent security breach at SIE which affected the No.1 PSN trophy hunter.

[@Carl-G]

Considering Microsoft said they still are going to buy more Publishers, SONY would be MAD to let this one slip. GO FOR IT SONY!!! (even tho I'm not a Souls-like fan anyway) :D

[@nabieladrian]

That ABK deals opened the floodgate.

[@gracelesstarnished573]

Noooooo !!! They'll ruin the franchise !!! Stay... away... Sony !!!

[@countquackula8539]

This would be a great buy for Sony. Great games and anime.

[@Jay-Tan]

they’ll ruin the games with profit maxing shit ahem, concord the hostage treatment of bloodborne is clear proof that they want all the profits for this IP

[@countquackula8539]

@Jay-Tan So out of all of the Sony games you name Concord? That's like saying Microsoft shouldn't have acquired Activision because of what happened with Redfall.

[@MichaelM28]

@@Jay-Tan ahem starfield. ahem, redfall. ahem, hellblade 2

[@ilhamsusanto664]

Wait... what happened to Tango Gameworks when they came under the Microsoft umbrella???

[@cracmar03]

@@MichaelM28 Redfall was going to be bad, studio making it, Arkane lost 50% of the dev team before game was even finalised. Starfield had months on end hate campaigns before release, so that's unreliable here. Hellblade 2 was .. okayish ? And if you want Sony mess up's to measure .. Helldivers 2 drama. Concord flopping hard. Still demanding PSN access to ports on steam. Constant hacking situations. Sony can't even handle their own security. Then we add worrying stuff like literally deleting shows people purchased on Funimation because Sony decided to off that service and merge it to Crunchyroll. Sony cares less for FromSoftware and is more about monopoly on anime here which this aquisition could give them.

[@chrimbus3442]

Ive been saying this makes so much sense for the last 4 years

[@nabieladrian]

Sony: "Y'all asking Bloodborne aight 😂"

[@jmssun]

From software needs to go independent NOW

[@caphowdy666]

It's "Royters" not "Rooters"

[@gauntletmm]

I came here to say this 😂 Someone has got to teach Ryan how to pronounce Reuters

[@jackplisken4738]

its Reuters not Royters

[@gauntletmm]

@ It’s not. Google is your friend. It’s pronounced Royters.

[@cokelife5831]

I say rooters

[@caphowdy666]

@@jackplisken4738 Talking about the pronunciation of it, ffs, not how it's spelled.

[@jasonmadinya7759]

i dont know if broader sony would even want sie to take over such a profitable studio, they only have so much bandwidth and lately sie has been faltering. fs has a track record of making money and working with multiple publishers including their longtime partner bandai namco.

[@Kuromusha]

This would be an HUGE acquisition.

[@Booskeee]

If it was Xbox, people would be up in arms

[@NoonDragoon]

@@Booskeeethe Sony fanboys are out in full force defending this one after criticizing the ABK deal for two years.

[@victory7763]

​@@BooskeeeThis isn't Activision. It's not a multi-billion dollar annual gross

[@victory7763]

​@@NoonDragoonthe fact that you think this is comparable to ABK is telling

[@MichaelM28]

@@Booskeee except the millions of xbox fanboys who championed microsoft buying bethesda and activision

[@suntannedduck2388]

Prefer anime, manga, light novel, sigh censorship/boo CR side, bookwalker, non From Software side lot of studios/publishers. Gamers care for From/1%, I care for rest. Not happy. Scary. RIP DAL, etc.

[@fcukugimmeausername]

Could you imagine how bad Fromsoft games will be after this? Generic, open world, woke, Hollywood Sony games 😢

[@stevenvarley2865]

There not microsoft

[@fcukugimmeausername]

@@stevenvarley2865 Microsoft specifically have a policy of not interfering with developers and publishers they purchase. Sony on the other hand... you can only guess how bad the DEI will be.

[@xchxmpagnepxpix]

Ryan frantically working on the Portal cloud gaming video lol

[@adrienveidt419]

You know... I was kinda mad yesterday because of the news about adding the Elden Ring DLC as GOTY contender... But THIS... This is actually news, something of actual importance

[@robertlawrence9000]

Yeah DLC shouldn't be considered as a full, new game. The Game Awards is a joke anyway. The votes the actual gamers have only account for 10% of the score making the game journalists 90% obviously the deciding factor for the awards. It's better to go to the better awards show called "The Real Game Awards" to vote where the actual gamers have the say in awards, not the journalists.

[@ericleal157]

​@@robertlawrence9000 oh yeah let's give the votes to random people that know nothing about gaming developing and evaluate a game based on how much button smashing and mindless fan service it has instead of to people that have actual experience in the industry and know how to properly analyze audiovisual art

[@robertlawrence9000]

@@ericleal157 Experience is giving Dragon Age: The Veilguard a 9/10? Get out of here with that "actual experience in the industry" excuse! Let the actual gamers vote instead of letting toxic journalists who are influenced by corporations.

[@ericleal157]

@robertlawrence9000 Because on most technical aspects the game IS decent, an objective analysis shouldn't care if the fans think the work is the worst piece of media ever conceived because it doesn't please their feelings, but yes if it follows a decent structure of well made mechanics, a well composed soundtrack, functional level design, a competent and creative direction, among other aspects. The proper process of evaluating any kind of media should follow basic criteria, fans very often have no nuance, they can give a product 0/10 because their favorite character was killed in a way they dislike or believe it is a 11/10 flawless wonder because it appeals to their nostalgia, how is this a fair and unbiased quality indicator?

[@mineralwater6736]

@@ericleal157 woke Leftist spotted.

[@damascus6480]

RIP FS and Anime. Censorship overload incoming

[@kitsune7919]

Can't wait to see chest scars option in the character creator and non binary characters in Dark Souls that's what the franchise truly needed. And and I am contempt with having to keep a 10 year old console around to keep playing Bloodborne.

[@ContrastCopy]

What’s wrong with chest scars?

[@KaiganGhost]

Me too! (I know this is anti woke sarcasm, but I'm dead serious lol)

[@KaiganGhost]

​@ContrastCopy a thing associated with transgender characters and their representation in games, which many people don't like for usually stupid or hateful reasons

[@MichaelM28]

It's microsoft that make woke games, not Sony.

[@kitsune7919]

@MichaelM28 Wrong Sony Studios partnered with Diversity consultants multiple times and butchered female character designs on multiple occasions. Idc about Politics I just want hot female characters like we used to always get.

[@ironclad2355]

Yeah a strange deal, no other game dev has purchased a company that is known as a multiplat company. I mean there is that big massive corporation that bought one of the biggest multi platform company Edit: actually they bought two of those multiplat companies