Sony is now FromSoftware owner Kadokawa's largest shareholder

Sony has increased its shares in FromSoftware owner Kadokawa as the two companies agree to form a “strategic capital and business alliance”.

Sony already held shares in the company, but with the increase it now holds approximately 10 percent of the company’s shares to become its largest shareholder, though this is not a full acquisition as previously suspected.

The two companies will adapt Kadokawa IP into live-action film and TV dramas globally, co-produce anime works, expand global distribution of Kadokawa’s anime works, further expand publishing of Kadokawa’s games, and develop human resources.

As a press release from Sony reads: Kadokawa and Sony “intend to further strengthen [their] collaboration to maximise both companies’ IP value globally and facilitate wider and deeper collaboration”, joining forces for content, discovering new creators, and “media mixes of both companies’ IP”.

Sony has acquired 12,054,100 new shares in Kadokawa for approximately 50bn yen, around £251.7m. Chinese conglomerate Tencent holds 6.86 percent of shares compared to Sony’s 10 percent.

Kadokawa is a major name in anime publishing, meaning Sony globally will now be a strong force in the industry.

Further expanding Kadokawa’s games is the exciting bit for players, though, with the potential for more Bloodborne and Demon’s Souls games with Sony, as well as big screen adaptations of FromSoftware’s games.

Eurogamer has contacted FromSoftware for further comment.

“We are very pleased to conclude this capital and business alliance agreement with Sony,” said Kadokawa CEO Takeshi Natsuno. “This alliance is expected to not only further strengthen our IP creation capabilities, but also increase our IP media mix options with Sony’s support for global expansion, allowing us to deliver our IP to more users around the world. We are confident that this will greatly contribute to maximising the value of our IP and increasing our corporate value in the mid- to long-term. We intend to do our utmost to ensure that our collaborative efforts with Sony produce great results in the global market.”