Tencent and Sony Collectively Acquire 30% of FromSoftware

Kadokawa Corporation, the company that owns the Japanese developer FromSoftware, the creator of the Dark Souls series and the hit action RPG Elden Ring, announced that units of Chinese tech giant Tencent and Sony will take minority stakes in the studio.

The companies will collectively acquire 30.34% of FromSoftware, with Kadokawa remaining the largest holder of 69.66% of the studio's stocks. Through its subsidiary Sixjoy Hong Kong, Tencent will now own 16.25% of the studio, while Sony Interactive Entertainment will own 14.09%.

The total amount paid-in capital was announced as 36,399,550,000 yen (about $262 million) with the issue price per share being 11,450,000 yen ($82,485). The payment is scheduled from September 7, 2022 to September 12, 2022.

In a press release, Kadokawa noted that the funds will help FromSoftware "strengthen" its development capabilities to develop "more powerful" game IPs. Additionally, the press release also hints that the studio may be looking to publish games in the future.

"FromSoftware ... will seek to establish a framework that allows the expansion of the scope of its own publishing in the
significantly growing global market," it reads.

Kadokawa didn't share whether that refers to the studio's own games or titles created by other developers. So, this could mean that FromSoftware might use the investment to reduce its dependence on Bandai Namco and gradually transition to self-publishing its games or that the studio will keep working with big publishing labels to invest in their games while publishing smaller titles using leftover funds.

You can find Kadokawa's press release here. Also, don't forget to join our Reddit page and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.