A brand new report from Reuters has emerged that reveals Sony is doubtlessly in talks to buy Kadokawa, a Japanese media conglomerate that serves as mum or dad to dozens of leisure corporations.
Within the gaming area, Kadokawa owns Spike Chunsoft, Purchase, Gotcha Gotcha Video games, and FromNetworks, whereas additionally proudly owning a majority stake in FromSoftware alongside Tencent and Sony. We think about that FromSoftware is proving notably enticing for Sony, because the studio is chargeable for the likes of Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Darkish Souls, and the Armored Core franchise.
Nevertheless, for us, Sony gobbling up Purchase and Spike Chunsoft could be notably devastating if it means neither can collaborate with Nintendo once more. The previous is understood for its work with Sq. Enix on the Octopath Traveler video games, however extra not too long ago discovered itself within the headlines for its growth of Mario & Luigi: Brothership on the Change. Ought to Sony purchase, um, Purchase, we are able to’t think about it might take too kindly to the staff taking over time and sources on one other future Mario & Luigi title. As such, Nintendo might must search for an alternate developer if it needs to proceed the franchise.
The latter, Spike Chunsoft, is an arguably even greater potential loss for Nintendo followers. The studio is well-known for the likes of Danganronpa and Grasp Detective Archives, however it’s additionally the developer behind the Pokémon Thriller Dungeon franchise, having labored on it beneath the title ‘Chunsoft’ earlier than rebranding to ‘Spike Chunsoft’ in 2012 following a merger with Spike. The final entry, Pokémon Thriller Dungeon: Rescue Staff DX, launched on the Change in 2020.
On the time of writing, neither Sony nor Kadakawa have commented on the experiences of a possible acquisition, however Reuters states that talks are ongoing and, if profitable, a deal might be signed inside a matter of weeks. After all, ought to all of it undergo, Sony may very nicely enable the studios to proceed collaborating on whichever franchises they see match, however one thing tells us that they’re going to turn out to be firmly entreched inside PlayStation Studios.