FromSoftware’s parent company announced today that they are issuing new shares of stock to Tencent and Sony Interactive.
According to a press release from the Kadokawa Corporation, FromSoftware’s parent company, a 30.34% stake in the company has been issued via stock. Sixjoy Honk Kong, the parent company for Tencent, will own 16.25% of FromSoftware shares. Sony Interactive Entertainment will own 14.09%. Kadokawa Corporation will remain the largest shareholder with a total of 69.66% of shares.
“Through the implementation of the fund procurement,” the press release states, “FromSoftware will aim to proactively invest in development of more powerful game IP for itself to strengthen FromSoftware’s development capabilities and will seek to establish a framework that allows the expansion of the scope of its own publishing in the significantly growing global market. In addition to these purposes, for an increase of the number of users in the global market for game IP that FromSoftware creates and develops, FromSoftware decided to conduct the Third-Party Allotment to Sixjoy within the Tencent Group, which has strength in its capabilities to develop and deploy mobile games and other network technologies in the global market including China, and SIE within the Sony Group, which has strength in its capabilities to deploy IP in games, videos and various other media in the global market, concurrently and separately.”
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Successful releases such as Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Elden Ring from FromSoftware are referenced in the purposes and reasoning section for this new third-party share allotment. “With an eye on further expansion of the Game Business,” it mentions, “the Group recognizes the enhancement of capabilities for the creation, development and deployment of game IP as one of the Group’s highest priorities.”
The industry has seen an arms race in terms of studio acquisitions. The biggest is Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard, which is expected to be approved.
Sony themselves recently finalized the acquisition of Bungie. The Destiny developer is now officially part of the PlayStation family after a $3.6 billion deal.
The Embracer Group has also been on a spending spree, acquiring the rights to Lord of the Rings and several other developer studios. Embracer Group is also responsible for the upcoming Knights of the Old Republic remake, which has reportedly moved to a new developer after being delayed indefinitely.
Ultimately, nothing should change in terms of where FromSoftware games are released. If anything, this means that the developer will have more capital behind them, allowing more opportunities for breakthroughs in technology and gameplay.
