From Software acquired by Kadokawa Publishing
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From Software acquired by Kadokawa Publishing

 

April 28th 2014

Today Kadokawa Publishing announced its acquisition of shares of From Software Inc. in a public press release available here.

This may seem surprising given the seeming press and print focus of the company, but it is of note that Bandai Namco Holdings is one of the primary shareholders of the company, which may shed light on this distinctive decision.

The press release highlights the achievements of From Software such as owning its 3D technology and supporting successful international launches and recognition. It then indicates a desire to exploit synergies and strengths between the studio and Kadokawa Games so that both benefit from expanding marketing and global operations across all platforms and can successfully launch new IPs.

So how does the userbase feel about this? Yay or nay? Vote in the comments

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69 responses to “From Software acquired by Kadokawa Publishing”


  1. As always, I choose to look at the most positive outcome.

    Kadokawa can fund the following:

    1. An animated movie/series/anime of the Demon/Dark Souls’ world whilst keeping its dark atmosphere.
    2. A better staff that can develop a more intricate lore, plot and game mechanic for the game.
    3. An anime-styled game but with a Dark Soul’s-esque mechanic/lore built into it. I wouldn’t mind having something like this.
    4. Kadokawa can also publish for the rest of the world and we can get away from BamCo’s bullcrap :/

    Let’s not be quick to judge but if they bought 80% controlling shares, they must have big ambitions for FromSoft.

  2. Doubt it will end. I mean the Series is actually doing better than ever. It can be seen like the Call of Duty franchise, at the beginning of CoD4 , it was critically acclaimed, won game of the year etc. But as the series grew, it changed to market a wider audience. So in the future Souls might not be what we love about it, but it will no doubt still be around as long as sales are doing good, which it is.

  3. I don’t think there will be another Souls game unless the same developers are picked up to code it.

  4. >

    I want DLC I gladly spent $110 on DkS 2 (PS3 and PC) and would do so again. Especially if the DLC has as much content and is as good as Artorias of the Abyss DLC from DkS.

  5. I don’t know if the series will end, continue, receive heavy focus, or be stalled. DS2 was critically praised, which is always good for the title (though not necessarily the fans or the game mechanics) so a 4th installment is a possibility in several years, though right now it’s too early to speculate.

    I do think an aquisition means a change in mechanics, it usually does. Whether that’s good or bad who is to say? Not all buy outs end in disaster.

  6. First and foremost, I pray there was never any DLC planned to begin with I’m sick of paying $60 for a game then being charged more for the rest.

    Second Majority shareholder doesn’t mean they will ruin or stop From, from making games. games=money and no shareholder buys stock to not make money.

  7. 1: There’s already a topic about this
    2: The Souls series probably won’t die for quite awhile, and if it does there will be another hardcore game like it to replace it.
    3: I personally don’t thonk Kadokawa will mess with the Souls series really, they would be dumb to try to . They will do whatever is in their best interest and ticking off Souls players is not that.

  8. It has been announced that publisher Kadokawa will purchase a controlling interest in From Software (80%) on May 21st 2014 for 1.75 billion yen. What are your thoughts on this acquisition. What does this mean for DsK2 DLC, and do you think the Souls series will be the same if they do produce a DsK3?

  9. I would like to quote Roose Bolton from Game of Thrones if I may, “If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention”

  10. I’m going to choose to look at it as a potentially better funded and better staffed From will be working on the next souls incarnation if there is one. I can’t see a shareholder trying to change a companies product into the exact thing the loyal fan base hates. Thats bad business.

  11. This thread already exists.

    As I said there, just because the majority stockholder has changed does not automatically mean than anything with the in house development process will.

  12. They bought them because they sell. I doubt they will want to jeopardize it by changing everything.

    And I wasn’t aware Miyazaki actually left. Director of game was different… not the entirety of FromSoftware. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.

  13. You will be missed. By the way, these are the guys that published Lollipop Chainsaw… so yyyyeah this series is dead. This kind of shows that the new director kind of sold out… I miss Miyazaki. First they bring us a game that (in my honest opinion) does not live up to the name of the first, then they sell the series to another publisher.

    k

  14. >

    Oh, I agree completely. Not enough good Seinen stuff anymore really, its mostly Shonen and Shojo, which is alright, but it tends to get old kind of quick.

    I suggest you go watch Sword of the Stranger. Good stuff!

  15. >

    yea it might have been a rather harsh standpoint for me to post, as I really havent followed any anime (aside from all the ghibli movies) so I shouldnt really judge, I just know from the few animes’ i have seen in the past few years a lot of it seems rather childish with convoluted stories. The animation in general seems to lack the technical beauty and movie-like style it once had when a good portion of a production was done by hand.

    If they do launch a dark souls anime or graphic novel, however, I would be happy to read/watch it so long as they do it right and not with all the silly comical spraying teardrops :crying: and squinty-eyed ginormous smiley faces :laughing: haha

  16. >

    While I generally tend to agree, there are still some good things here and there. The Berserk Movies still seem to be in full swing. Hellsing Ultimate. There are a few here and there that surprised me as well like Deadman Wonderland. Shigurui was pretty crazy too.

  17. I’d actually love a dark, serious anime about the Soul’s series, it’s rife with lore and lands to explore in an animated Medium.

    This could mean nothing….this could mean everything, it’s impossible to tell at this rate.

  18. Certainly hope because of this change we don’t have “other M” happen to the souls series.

  19. >

    I am not entirely sure how public trading works in Japan, however if FROM is a publicly traded company if another company wants to purchase most of its stock there is not much they can do. Not so sure I agree with your anime comment, but this is neither the time nor the place to discuss that.

  20. Could be so much worse. Like majority stock being held by an american company like Vivendi or Insight Venture Partners whose owned games went from quality decent games to money snatching, pay to win talentless games.

    Dont get me wrong, I am not anti-american, I am american after all. But I know how bad some of these stock owning companies are.

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