A new report confirms that Sony

is actively interested in the acquisition of Kadokawa, a major Japanese media conglomerate and the parent company of FromSoftware, developers of Elden Ring and the Souls titles. According to rumors, Sony is "in talks" to acquire the publisher.

The global media industry is entering an age of major consolidation. From the Disney buyout of Fox to Microsoft merging with Activision-Blizzard to Sony itself picking up Destiny developer Bungie in 2022, the biggest players in the media industry are looking for ways to get even bigger. Major companies tend to see acquisitions as strategic moves to improve their prospects in key markets, or even to pick up popular franchises and series, getting a piece of their profitability and gaining control.

That might be the case for Sony's potential purchase of Kadokawa. According to comments published in a report by Japanese site Bunshun Online, Sony Group confirmed that it formally "expressed its intentions" to acquire Kadokawa. The comments confirm rumors from an earlier Reuters story about Sony buying Kadokawa published in November 2024.

Sony Confirms Intention To Buy Kadokawa

The Bunshun Online report itself focuses on comments from Kadokawa employees, executives, and external analysts reacting to the rumors. Comments from economic analyst Takahiro Suzuki suggested that a potential deal would be more in Sony's favor than Kadokawa's, as the latter could "lose independence" with the change in management. Suzuki's comments mentioned that a potential Sony-led administration could be "stricter." The sentiment lines up with what others have said about companies that came under Sony's umbrella in the recent past. A former Bungie lawyer praised Sony for imposing needed "discipline" on the production and management of Destiny 2 after the acquisition.

Though Sony buying Kadokawa and its game studios could mark a significant game industry shift, the potential impact of the buyout could be much greater for the anime industry. Both Sony and Kadokawa are among the biggest players in anime and manga production worldwide. Sony owns Crunchyroll and Funimation, two of the largest global distributors of anime, while Kadokawa owns countless IPs and major stakes in anime production on nearly every level.

The creation of a potential Sony and Kadokawa anime juggernaut could be a seismic shift in the balance of power for the anime scene, but it should be said that a buyout isn't a foregone conclusion. Sony has merely expressed interest in the acquisition, and there will be many steps to go through before anything is settled. For now, a merger of the two titans is just theoretical.

Source;Sony/kadakawa

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