After rumors and confirmed letters of intent by both companies, Sony Group Corporation and Kadokawa confirmed a strategic capital and business alliance agreement on January 7th, 2025. Sony will acquire over 12 million new shares of the latter for roughly 50 billion yen, and together with previously acquired shares, it will become Kadokawa’s largest shareholder at 10 percent.
In a press release, Sony explained that the companies “historically have collaborated on various projects, and through this capital and business alliance, intend to further strengthen our collaboration to maximize both companies’ IP value globally and facilitate wider and deeper collaboration.”
These include “potential joint investments in the content field, joint discovery of new creators, and joint promotion of further media mixes of both companies’ IP” and plans to “discuss specific initiatives for collaboration” like adapting Kadokawa’s IP for live-action films and TV dramas, co-production of anime, and more.
Interestingly, these could also mean further expanding the “publishing of Kadokawa’s games.” CFO and president Hiroki Totoki said, “Through this capital and business alliance, we will become the largest shareholder of Kadokawa, which consistently creates a wide variety of IP, including publications and books, such as light novels and comics, as well as games and anime.
“By combining Kadokawa’s extensive IP and IP creation ecosystem with the strengths of Sony, which has promoted the global expansion of a wide range of entertainment, including anime and games, we plan to work closely together to realize Kadokawa’s ‘Global Media Mix’ strategy, aimed at maximizing the value of its IP, and Sony’s long-term vision, ‘Creative Entertainment Vision.’”
Kadokawa CEO Takeshi Natsuno said the company is “very pleased to conclude this capital and business alliance agreement with Sony. 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 maximizing 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.”
When rumors first circulated, they focused more on Sony acquiring Kadokawa Corporation outright. What changed in the interim is unknown, but it’s safe to say that you won’t be seeing forthcoming FromSoftware projects (of which several are in the works) exclusive to PS5 anytime soon.