Former Blizzard boss says "the only thing bigger" than Sony buying FromSoftware would be if it bought Valve or Nintendo

News
By published

It would be a "top two acquisition in video gaming"

Elden Ring screenshot
(Image credit: FromSoftware)

As a new report that Sony may buy FromSoftware's parent company, Kadokawa Corporation, circulates, former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra says "it's probably a top 2 acquisition in video gaming in the last 15+ years if not ever". The only other deal as good he can think of is Microsoft buying Minecraft for "only" $2.5 billion.

Sony has sent a letter of intent to Kadokawa Corporation, which owns Dark Souls and Elden Ring developer FromSoftware as well as other entertainment properties such as the Delicious in Dungeon anime. The move would certainly make sense for Sony, which is already in the broader entertainment market, not just video games specifically.

Ybarra speaks highly of FromSoftware: "FromSoftware is incredible - releasing games on an accelerated pace that are AAA and epic. The track record is fantastic." FromSoftware has become my favorite developer in recent years for this exact reason. There's no studio that consistently puts out artistic, game-of-the-year-worthy hits.

Article continues below

Ybarra continues, "The only thing bigger would be [Sony] buying Valve or Nintendo. And I don't see either of those happening in any scenario." That seems a touch hyperbolic, as there are many juggernauts at the moment that would likely rival FromSoftware in terms of sheer output, such as EA or Ubisoft.

Ybarra says these are "Exciting times", but I'm not a fan of mergers and acquisitions myself, as they seem to always lead to layoffs. Following Microsoft's buyout of Activision Blizzard, 2,500 people were let go from Microsoft Gaming this year alone.

The only positive I could see coming from this is a Bloodborne remake, as Sony actually owns the rights to the gothic action RPG, not FromSoftware. The poor game, one of my all-time favorites, has been stuck on the PS4 at a measly 30 frames per second, since 2015, and it's high time we at least got a PS5 60fps patch.

If you want to take a look at why Sony buying this company would be a big deal, check out our list of the best FromSoftware games.

Issy van der Velde
Issy van der Velde
Contributor

I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.