Rumor: Sony considers FromSoftware as potential acquisition candidate
Sony has already stated that it has plans for more M&A deals after announcing the Bungie acquisition. According to a new rumor, Elden Ring developer FromSoftware might be the company’s next acquisition candidate.
Elden Ring
Games industry analyst and Kantan Games CEO Serkan Toto shared the information on Twitter, saying that FromSoftware is “currently rumored to be an M&A candidate for Sony.”
This doesn’t mean that the Tokyo-based studio will join PlayStation in the foreseeable future, as there are no confirmation or additional details known at the moment.
However, Toto shared a little background story about FromSoftware and its relationship with different partners and stakeholders it had throughout the years.
- Founded in 1986, FromSoftware started as a B2B software developer. Its first game, King’s Field, came out on PlayStation in 1994.
- In 2007, Japanese IT giant transcosmos entered a joint venture with the studio and right-wing daily newspaper Sankei Shimbun.
- Together, they planned to build a virtual community dubbed “metaverse,” years before all the hype surrounding this term.
5) Inspired by the novel Snow Crash, they called this PC community a “metaverse” – again in 2007 already!
From went all in and invested in the project, too.
Toyota was one of the first customers setting up virtual land.
The metaverse started big but later failed.
— Dr. Serkan Toto / Kantan Games Inc. (@serkantoto) April 18, 2022
- In 2010, transcosmos acquired FromSoftware for an undisclosed sum. Although the studio had already released Demon’s Souls at the time, the parent company barely had any interest in supporting its new subsidiary.
- Fast forward to 2014, publishing giant Kadokawa acquired 80% of FromSoftware’s shares from transcosmos for around $22.5 million. “The devil is in the details, but the price was very likely a total joke back then already,” Toto noted.
10) One month after the transcosmos deal, Kadokawa was clever enough to fully take over From.
At that time in 2014, one transcosmos director was Japanese mobile industry pioneer Takeshi Natsuno – who became Kadokawa president in 2021 and by rank oversees From today.
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— Dr. Serkan Toto / Kantan Games Inc. (@serkantoto) April 18, 2022
Even if Sony really considers acquiring FromSoftware, the sum would be much more than the $22.5 million Kadokawa paid in 2014. The Tokyo-based developer has launched several successful titles since then, including Elden Ring, which sold 12 million units worldwide in less than a month.
Earlier this month, SIE CEO Jim Ryan noted that PlayStation prefers to grow its studios organically and is now entering a “virtuous cycle where success begets success.” This means that the company will continue to invest heavily in content creation and is now looking for new M&A goals.
