With every month that passes, it seems we hear more and more about consolidation of the entertainment industry one way or another. Be that through movie studios buying up rival studios, gaming giants buying up other gaming giants or the shrinking music scene as a whole.
The latest rumours to be doing the rounds is from the very reputable source, Reuters in which they have two sources stating that Sony have been in talks for a number of weeks with Kadokawa Corporation with the aim of an agreement in which the former acquires the latter.
It is important to remember that even if both parties agree on a deal for Sony to purchase Kadokawa Corporation, there could still be hurdles that need to be overcome before it’s official.
The Kadokawa Corporation isn’t just the owners of From Software and Spike Chunsoft but they also have a large market in both manga and anime, something no doubt Sony wants in order to further solidify their monopoly in these areas.
At the time of writing, Sony owns 2% of Kadokawa Corporation and the company as a whole is worth somewhere in the region of $2.7 billion. It is not too far short of the price Sony paid for Bungie.
If the deal goes through and Sony makes the acquisition of Kadokawa Corporation, there is still the chance the gaming division remains multiplatform as a way to appease potential pushback from various regulators. Remember this is not being bought through the PlayStation division but Sony as a corporation, which could have big impacts on whether future games from From Software and Spike Chunsoft go exclusive or remain multiplatform.
