namenotfound
Member
If Kadokawa was to merge with a company, it should be with Shueisha and make an IP juggernaut even bigger than both already are. Then merge with Koei Tecmo and to really flesh out their video game mill for all their IP
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[Reuters] Exclusive-Sony in talks to buy media powerhouse behind 'Elden Ring', sources say
- Thread starter Insanemaelstrom
- Start date
- News
Sooner
Member
Yeah, Sony has never been known for single-player games.
Chuck Berry
Gold Member
XXL
Member
I'm honestly kind of hoping they just merge Bluepoint into From Software.Imagine Elden Ring 2 with the breathtaking graphics of a Demon's Souls remake.
Bluepoint has what From Soft needs.
Venom Snake
Member
Imagine Elden Ring 2 with the breathtaking graphics of a Demon's Souls remake.
Wastelander92
Member
Replace Hulst with Miyazaki as PS studio head.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
Probably not. Tencent would probably still want some amount unless they wanted to reduce for some reasons. Also, Sony & Tencent have shown similar interests in gaming-related investments in the Asian region for some years now, usually buying similar stock rates into various studios or publishers, or similar investments in things like China Hero Project.
Some of that's probably because of Shawn Layden (he works at Tencent nowadays). I'm generally fine with the "soft-alliance" or whatever now because Tencent have been distancing themselves from the CCP, at least as much as a Chinese company can, in terms of some overt political influences.
Gameplay Gods Bless
Member
They've already done it 3 times. Demon's Souls (2009), Bloodborne (2015) and Demon's Souls 2020.
DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
But why would Miyazaki want out unless you're suggesting Sony would force SIE to force From Software into development conditions Miyazaki wont' accept?
It'd take a lot for that scenario to occur IMO. SIE will still let Miyazaki make the games he wants, provide the funding he needs, and release on as many platforms he wants. They're not gonna force conditions he wouldn't like, so if Miyazaki is fine with a publisher like Kadokawa already owning most of From Software, why would he be upset if that ownership simply transferred to Sony, who'd likely delegate responsibilities to SIE who'd simply treat From Software like how Kadokawa and Bandai-Namco already do?
The only thing that'd likely change is SIE publishing future From Software games instead of Bandai-Namco, outside of any contracts Bandai-Namco already have set up. Even then it's likely SIE would work something out with Bandai-Namco. There's literally nothing in this specific M&A that would make Miyazaki leave, as far as I can tell.
Unless there's something I'm missing?
If that's the case he would've left when Kadokawa bought 66% of From Software. I think you guys have it mistaken; creatives tend to leave if a big corporation buys them AND that corporation has a culture & history of suppressing the creative process, usually through poor management or overbearing management that prevents them from creating what they want.
Generally speaking, Sony don't have those issues, particularly on the gaming side. Historically speaking, anyway. After Concord, I don't think I'd want Hulst having any say in what From Software should or shouldn't be doing, so if this all goes through, he should just be Miyazaki's Yes-man. Miyazaki asks for something, Hulst approves without question or stipulation, because Miyazaki knows what he's doing.
Hulst, you gotta redeem yourself after Concord & LEGO Horizon, and staying on Miyazaki's good side is a solid start towards that.
Great point to be honest. If his creativity is supported it's all good.
graywolf323
Member
I’ve long pointed to Kadokawa as the likeliest ‘publisher’ acquisition that Sony might make because it’s not just about gaming for them, this would fill a lot of their cross-media focus
EMR
Member
Nikkei Asia is also reported. Things are getting serious.
asia.nikkei.com
Sony in talks to acquire Japan publisher behind Elden Ring
Potential Kadokawa deal to advance entertainment group's content buildup
asia.nikkei.com
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jm89
Member
Nikkei Asia is also reported. Things are getting serious.
Sony in talks to acquire Japan publisher behind Elden Ring
Potential Kadokawa deal to advance entertainment group's content buildup
Loomy
Banned
You're right. But, with hindsight and all, with the cost and pace of development today you can't not wonder if carrying the likes of Zipper, Guerilla Cambridge, Evolution, London, etc for a few years until they got things going again would have served them better today and in the near future where - even though they won't outright admit it yet - the balance between content and hardware has shifted drastically.
Mr Moose
Member
Déraciné.
Coloress_Kafka
Member
What a boring acquisition, the vast majority of Kadokawa‘s anime is brain dead slop for people with no emotional maturity. They don’t even have a good amount of fan service, Jesus at least let me have a boner if you’re not going to stimulate my brain.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
im confused. Play Station paid for Bungie.. but Kodokawa would be paid by Sony. So, 3-4 Billion is not really a big deal for the entire corporation then.
His down bad
Sony plans up to 11.5 billion USD in strategic investments through FY26
They announced in the fiscal year earnings that they plan on spending 11.5 billion USD on strategic investments (including music catalog purchases and buypack plans). This is significantly more than what they actually spent in the previous mid range strategy. Who knows if this involves...
Dooomed
Astray
Member
Totoki getting close to his career moment.Nikkei Asia is also reported. Things are getting serious.
Sony in talks to acquire Japan publisher behind Elden Ring
Potential Kadokawa deal to advance entertainment group's content buildup
Maybe then
Ass of Can Whooping
will give him an Avengers membership.
James Sawyer Ford
Member
Sony plans up to 11.5 billion USD in strategic investments through FY26
They announced in the fiscal year earnings that they plan on spending 11.5 billion USD on strategic investments (including music catalog purchases and buypack plans). This is significantly more than what they actually spent in the previous mid range strategy. Who knows if this involves...www.neogaf.com
Dooomed
Hoe Law is a clown
GHG
Klayzer
Member
Same. Strategically, it lines up with their other business interests. With the crown jewel being the majority owner of FromSoft.
Although, Tencent will throw absurd amount of money if they are bidding as well. I'm against giants buying up everything, but a choice between Sony or Tencent, I'm going with former 100%.
Klayzer
Member
I bet this deal has been discussed privately for years. IMO
Mr.Phoenix
Member
Technically, this should count as organic growth. FS has made a number of exclusives for Sony, haven't they? Sony is probably their biggest customer.
That aside, I see sony still releasing their games for PC, but they are likely to become console-exclusive.
No I dont want the game to take 2/10s of my lifespan to make.Imagine Elden Ring 2 with the breathtaking graphics of a Demon's Souls remake.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
There were rumored for years now, especially when Tencent was moving in on gobbling up shares several years ago.
Sony and Tencent acquire a combined 30% ownership in FromSoftware shares - GameDaily.biz | We Make Games Our Business
Rumors of an acquisition continue to swirl.
www.gamedaily.biz
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James Sawyer Ford
Member
Getting a better engine will speed up dev times, not slow it down
MarkMe2525
Banned
If this were true, I doubt they would be looking at making their future games console exclusive. This would not solidify Sony's position at the top, anymore than it already is, which means they would be willingly taking less return on their investment. This doesn't seem to be the trend. Of course, I could be wrong.
sachos
Member
I wonder what people championing for MS aquisitions will say now... I blame MS for starting this race. Fuck this.
Only pros i can think about are increased technical performance for FromSoft games and finally getting a Bloodborne Remaster, but if we dont like MS aquisitions we shouldnt like this either.
Only pros i can think about are increased technical performance for FromSoft games and finally getting a Bloodborne Remaster, but if we dont like MS aquisitions we shouldnt like this either.
Lorianus
Member
Are there even government agencies overseeing these in japan?, maybe i watched too much tv drama but always thought they are like korea, ruled by 10-15 large konsortiums owned by families dating back into the middle ages and basically make those deals over the table with a glas of sake.
nani17
are in a big trouble
Not good at all for pc players if sony makes you sign into PSN because many countries don't have PSN.
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DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Kojima spit out Death Stranding in 4 years. On a new advanced engine. So it still comes down to studio management and workload culture.
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Sooner
Member
I DIDN'T like MS acquisitions. But, I love how it turned out. It made MS realize they can't support Studios like Activision and Bethesda without PlayStation.
So much that they not only kept those games on PS and Nintendo, but decided to put their older first-party studio games on PS and Nintendo, as well.
MS fanboy only gets punched in the ass...
They spent 2 whole years claiming victory with the purchase of Activision and Bethesda, resulting in the Xbox not being able to sustain even the cost of Bethesda and Activision's coffee, resulting in everything becoming third party.
Now if Sony buys Kadokawa, the Playstation will certainly support From Software's temporary exclusivity and the cancellation of Xbox support.
"Elden Ring 2 had the Xbox version canceled after Sony's purchase" LOL
They spent 2 whole years claiming victory with the purchase of Activision and Bethesda, resulting in the Xbox not being able to sustain even the cost of Bethesda and Activision's coffee, resulting in everything becoming third party.
Now if Sony buys Kadokawa, the Playstation will certainly support From Software's temporary exclusivity and the cancellation of Xbox support.
"Elden Ring 2 had the Xbox version canceled after Sony's purchase" LOL
midnightAI
Banned
And how much is that down to Sony or just a global change in political correctness? we don't know if any change in Crunchyroll is down to Crunchyroll and its management itself or changes asked for by Sony as the owner. In my opinion, this sounds similar to people blaming Sony for the likes of Insomniac taking political correctness too far in Spider Man 2 but that is definitely on Insomniac and hopefully they have taken the criticism in and dial that back.
Dark Souls is not owned by From.
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DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Yep. Owned by Namco Bandai, which was a shock they let Elden Ring go to From recently.
Sooner
Member
Dark Souls was basically Demon's Souls 2, given a new name in order to go multi-platform, since Sony owns Demon's Souls.
Now, Bandai owns Dark Souls. If Sony buys From, Dark Souls 4, could just be worked as Demon's Souls 2. Hell, might as well just call it Demon's Souls 5.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
Something also hit me just a few minutes ago (a thought, not a car)...
Some people are trying to downplay this rumor saying these deals don't get leaked before an official announcement, but they're only referencing MS buying Zenimax (the latter a private company at the time), and MS buying ABK.
They don't seem to realize that this kind of stuff is way different for Japanese companies. Yes, Kadokawa's a public company on the TSE (Tokyo Stock Exchange), but I just remembered that there have been times even decades back when M&A talks between Japanese companies would be public info in the news for MONTHS before deals were reached.
Case in point: SEGA and Bandai. Back in the late '90s, some Western gaming outlets (like Next Generation Magazine) would talk about rumors of SEGA and Bandia looking to enter a merger. Those talks eventually fell through, but the point is, they were happening, and I don't remember SEGA or Bandai suffering any legal penalties due to talks getting picked up way ahead of any agreement reached. It's not the only example, but it's the one I first thought about.
So clearly, how these leaks are treated with Japanese companies is quite different vs. Western ones, and that's probably a part of why Sony Corp (in Japan) are the ones headlining talks with Kadokawa (also Japan); it'd be different if it were SIE, since their headquarters is in California (please relocate to at least Utah). And, if it were SIE and Kadokawa, we probably wouldn't have heard of these talks, at least not from Western outlets, until something got out on the Japanese side first.
It's still possible some people at either company let something slip for insider trading purposes, but it's also possible that isn't the case and we're just...naturally hearing about the talks as trades pick up on it. I'm led to believe rules WRT public knowledge on M&A talks between Japanese companies are quite different than between Western companies.
Some people are trying to downplay this rumor saying these deals don't get leaked before an official announcement, but they're only referencing MS buying Zenimax (the latter a private company at the time), and MS buying ABK.
They don't seem to realize that this kind of stuff is way different for Japanese companies. Yes, Kadokawa's a public company on the TSE (Tokyo Stock Exchange), but I just remembered that there have been times even decades back when M&A talks between Japanese companies would be public info in the news for MONTHS before deals were reached.
Case in point: SEGA and Bandai. Back in the late '90s, some Western gaming outlets (like Next Generation Magazine) would talk about rumors of SEGA and Bandia looking to enter a merger. Those talks eventually fell through, but the point is, they were happening, and I don't remember SEGA or Bandai suffering any legal penalties due to talks getting picked up way ahead of any agreement reached. It's not the only example, but it's the one I first thought about.
So clearly, how these leaks are treated with Japanese companies is quite different vs. Western ones, and that's probably a part of why Sony Corp (in Japan) are the ones headlining talks with Kadokawa (also Japan); it'd be different if it were SIE, since their headquarters is in California (please relocate to at least Utah). And, if it were SIE and Kadokawa, we probably wouldn't have heard of these talks, at least not from Western outlets, until something got out on the Japanese side first.
It's still possible some people at either company let something slip for insider trading purposes, but it's also possible that isn't the case and we're just...naturally hearing about the talks as trades pick up on it. I'm led to believe rules WRT public knowledge on M&A talks between Japanese companies are quite different than between Western companies.
Pop
Member
How many psn players from those countries in total
EverydayBeast
ChatGPT 0.1
There’s no meaning behind these big purchases from game companies.
Dirk Benedict
Member
That's an expensive nail to put into the Xbox Coffin, imo.