As noticed by GamesRadar, Ybarra weighed in on the new information of the week—the report that Sony was sniffing round Kadokawa, which was later confirmed in a press release which stated Kadokawa had obtained “an preliminary letter of intent to accumulate the corporate’s shares.” In what I might argue is a fairly daring declare, Ybarra tweeted: “If Sony does buy FromSoftware, it is in all probability a high 2 acquisition in video gaming within the final 15+ years if not ever (the opposite being Minecraft to Microsoft for under $2.5B).”
Ybarra says that FromSoftware is “unimaginable,” creating video games which are “AAA and epic,” no matter meaning. “The one factor greater could be shopping for Valve or Nintendo,” Ybarra concludes. “And I do not see both of these taking place in any situation. Thrilling instances.”
Now hear, I agree that Sony snagging a juggernaut like Kadokawa is a reasonably large deal. The conglomerate has its fingers in all types of pies—videogames, movie, anime and manga, the latter of which Sony has undeniably been making an attempt to extend its possession of lately—however I am unsure I would precisely liken it to a Valve or Nintendo-level acquisition. Hey, possibly I am incorrect, and I am tremendously underestimating Kadokawa’s energy.
I do discover it fascinating that Ybarra is barely specializing in the FromSoftware a part of the potential acquisition right here, too. Like I stated, Kadokawa encompasses excess of that, and I would wager that Sony has its eyes on excess of simply the videogame builders it might get its arms on. In spite of everything, Sony already owns Crunchyroll, which it merged with its earlier acquisition of Funimation again in 2022. Anime and manga seems like a kind of corners of the trade that is not slowing down anytime quickly, and I would not be shocked if Kadokawa’s big publishing operations are the larger prize to come back out of all this. Although say it with me, people: Consolidation of the trade is dangerous for everybody!
