Sony's acquisition of Kadokawa hasn't even been finalized yet, but the deal is already unanimous... or almost. Last November, Reuters revealed these plans to the general surprise of the industry and gamers. Is Sony really about to add the parent company of Elden Ring and major manga franchises to its arsenal? The company's ambitions were quickly made official via a press release from Kadokowa shared the very next day. Radio silence has reigned since these revelations, but things are apparently starting to move behind the scenes.
After surprising growth in stock market shares for Sony and Kadokawa, the positive impact of the possible acquisition is already being felt by employees. Testimonies collected by the Japanese media Bunshun – spotted and translated by Automaton – reveal the expectations of Kadokawa's employees regarding the future of the hierarchy. Since a terrible ransomware attack last summer at Kadokawa and Niconico, the reputation of Takeshi Natsuno – current chairman and CEO of the Japanese media conglomerate – has been at an all-time low.
The lack of support for The leak of employees’ personal data has not been viewed favorably. “Indeed, a number of employees are unhappy with Natsuno’s management, which did not even bother to hold a press conference after the leak of personal information in the cyberattack. They therefore expect Sony to get rid of the current president first if the company is acquired,” an employee told Bunshun. The arrival of a new CEO is causing people to dream internally, despite the potential pitfalls inherent in such a takeover.
Kadokawa will never be the same
The members of the Kadokawa family, who come from the line that founded the company, were surprised by the many positive reactions to these announcements. On paper, bringing the conglomerate back under the Sony umbrella looks like a major victory. But some specialists prefer to qualify the situation. Analyst Takahiro Suzuki is absolutely not convinced that this maneuver and has not failed to to make this known in the Bunshun article.
“Kadokawa will lose its independence and management will become stricter,” he explains without restraint. “If they want to continue to develop their activities as freely as they have done so far, the acquisition would be a bad choice. They will have no choice but to prepare for publications that cannot lead to a creation of intellectual property without being closely monitored and examined.” Given the weight that Kadokawa represents in Japanese pop culture, it goes without saying that a readjustment by Sony could prove fatal. Let's hope that this will not affect the development of From Software's next game!
0 Comments