Staff at FromSoftware parent company reportedly "thrilled" to see Sony in talks to buy them, but one analyst says the sale would be a "bad choice" for the house of Elden Ring

(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Sony has been eyeing up a potential acquisition of Kadokawa, an enormous Japanese media conglomerate that owns the likes of Dark Souls developer FromSoftware, Danganronpa studio Spike Chunsoft, and more, and many of the conglomerate's employees are reportedly "thrilled at the prospect" of it.

Following reports of Sony and Kadokawa entering talks of a potential acquisition last month, Kadokawa quickly confirmed that while it had "received an initial letter of intent to acquire the Company's shares," nothing had actually been confirmed at that point.

However, it'd be a massive deal if it does go through. Kadokawa doesn't just own multiple game development studios and publishers, but also animation studios, book and manga publishers, and more. In a new report from Bunshun (which has been translated by Automaton), one veteran employee claims that others in the company are very excited since they're unhappy with its current leadership under CEO Takeshi Natsuno.

"The people around me are thrilled at the prospect of an acquisition by Sony. That's because there's a certain number of employees who are dissatisfied with the Natsuno administration, which didn't even bother to hold a press conference after peoples' personal information was leaked in the cyberattack," the veteran employee says, referring to a major cyberattack that occurred earlier this year. "They expect that if Sony were to acquire the company, they would get rid of the president first."

Even if employees themselves are keen, however, one analyst suggests that it might not be the best move for the company. In the same report, economic analyst Takahiro Suzuki predicts that Kadokawa's management would "become stricter" and the company would "lose its independence" if it was acquired. Suzuki goes as far to say that the acquisition "would be a bad choice" if Kadokawa still wants to "keep developing their business as freely as they have until now."

Suzuki's remarks seem to run parallel to discussions over future potential FromSoftware exclusivity deals a la Bloodborne, though even if Sony does acquire Kadokawa and FromSoftware with it, it's not guaranteed that the company would rush to throw away the massive multiplatform audience that the likes of Elden Ring have cultivated.

With Sony in talks to acquire Elden Ring developer's parent company, one investor reportedly jokes that the cost is worth it just to get director Hidetaka Miyazaki.

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I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.