Kadokawa employees reportedly "thrilled" about potential Sony buyout due to issues with its management

by Danny Craig · Updated 12/12/24, 11:50 AM
Kadokawa employees reportedly "thrilled" about potential Sony buyout due to issues with its management
FromSoftware

Update:

Sony has now confirmed in an interview with Yahoo Japan (via IGN) that the company is interested in acquiring Kadokawa. "It is true that we have made an initial statement of intent," Sony said. "We would appreciate it if you would allow us to refrain from further comment."

Original article:

Employees at Kadokawa Corporation, which owns FromSoftware, are reportedly supportive of Sony's potential takeover of the company due to issues with its current management.

The details:

  • Last month, it was reported that Sony was in talks to acquire Kadokawa, which would result in the acquisition of several studios, including FromSoftware, as well as the company's large anime and manga business. Although Sony declined to comment on the reports, Kadokawa confirmed that it had spoken with the company but had not reached a decision.

  • In a new report from Bunshun (via Automaton), employees at Kadokawa are said to be "thrilled at the prospect of an acquisition by Sony." It is claimed that employees are dissatisfied with the company's operations under president and CEO Takeshi Natsuno. "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,” an unnamed Kadokawa employee said. “They expect that if Sony were to acquire the company, they would get rid of the president first."

  • However, economic analyst Takahiro Suzuki believes that while Sony will benefit greatly from the acquisition, Kadokawa will gain very little. “Kadokawa will lose its independence, and management will become stricter,” Suzuki explained. “If they want to keep developing their business as freely as they have until now, [the acquisition] would be a bad choice. They’d have to be prepared for publications that don’t lead to IP creation being put under scrutiny.”

More gaming news:

Latest News