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FromSoftware, the studio behind iconic video game franchises such as Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Armoured Core and more, is reported to be in Sony’s sights for acquisition. Following the PlayStation parent’s acquisition of Destiny 2 developer and Halo creator Bungie, the company’s eyes are stuck on the iconic Japanese company.
PlayStation to nab Elden Ring dev FromSoftware
According to a report by renowned tech news website Reuters, Sony is currently “weeks away” from acquiring Kadokawa, the parent company of FromSoftware. Alongside owning the Elden Ring game studio, this would give Sony access to even more anime publishing outlets as well as a direct line to anime merch.
However, gamers are more focused on the acquisition of FromSoftware, the studio behind decades of classic games. At the time of writing, Sony already owns 14% of FromSoftware, but with Kadokawa owning 70% of the studio, Sony’s acquisition would give them majority ownership of the developer.
However, even if Sony does acquire Kadokawa, they won’t entirely own the Dark Souls studio. Currently, Chinese mega corporation Tencent owns the remaining 16% of FromSoftware which Sony would have to buy out to gain full ownership of the studio.
Sony and Kadokawa have both declined to comment to numerous outlets about the potential acquisition.
Don’t forget about Firewalk
With the news of a new acquisition in the works, it’s worth remembering that Sony has also committed mass layoffs in the past year. Alongside mass layoffs at Destiny developer Bungie, the PlayStation parent also scrapped Firewalk Studios after the high-profile failure of multiplayer shooter Concord.
Other studios under the PlayStation umbrella have also been affected, as well as thousands of game devs outside of the company. For example, rival platform holder Xbox has also laid off thousands of developers across a large number of studios.
It’s unknown if Sony will start layoffs at FromSoftware if it acquires the Elden Ring studio.
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