Reuters: Sony in talks to buy media powerhouse behind 'Elden Ring', sources say

[Say1nMan]

 

[ethomaz]

Not sure if they reached Sony directly.
But it is clear they put them on sales for the internal market.
So any Japanese company interested could have started talks.
Sony is interested.

 

[BillyZ]

It's outdated Kakao owns no shares

株式の状況 | 株主・株式情報 | IR情報 | KADOKAWAグループ ポータルサイト

KADOKAWAグループの投資家情報。IR情報、有価証券報告書、四半期報告書、決算短信、財務ハイライト、株主総会、株主優待制度、株主通信、株式事務、ESG。

group.kadokawa.co.jp

 

[Yurinka]

lol, that would be quite a twist.

It's outdated Kakao owns no shares

株式の状況 | 株主・株式情報 | IR情報 | KADOKAWAグループ ポータルサイト

KADOKAWAグループの投資家情報。IR情報、有価証券報告書、四半期報告書、決算短信、財務ハイライト、株主総会、株主優待制度、株主通信、株式事務、ESG。

group.kadokawa.co.jp

This link says 'As of the end of March 2023'

 

[Cool hand luke]

Well fortunately for them they have nothing to worry about.

 

[Kokoloko]

Things like this getting announced before a decisions is pretty lame. I was under the impression, they have been discussing and probably made a decision behind the scenes.

But this, this could easily fall through via all sorts of pressure and shenanigans…
Phil and MS right now

 

[Johnic]

Things like this getting announced before a decisions is pretty lame. I was under the impression, they have been discussing and probably made a decision behind the scenes.

But this, this could easily fall through via all sorts of pressure and shenanigans…
Phil and MS right now

View attachment 5928

MS isn't releasing anything, other than games on PS5. It'll take them a couple of decades to earn back the ABK money from Xbox themselves. They're not doing anything. Phil is done.

 

[Puff]

Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social)

Don't worry, folks — even if Sony buys Kadokawa, rest assured that future Dark Souls and Elden Ring games will still come to Xbox

bsky.app

 

[SSfox]

The days of the Californian PlayStation are numbered. The rumours about Sony reallocating the PlayStation HQ back to Japan are most likely true. Totoki is fed up with the expenses of the USA. Also get used to that Totoki will shrink those monstrous budgets of ND, SSM, Insomniac etc.
The biggest proof is that Sony didn't go for Paramount. They decided against going for big western companies and chose instead to go the Pro-Japan route. PlayStation will go back to Japan.

I wish you're right is all I'll say

 

[Kokoloko]

MS isn't releasing anything, other than games on PS5. It'll take them a couple of decades to earn back the ABK money from Xbox themselves. They're not doing anything. Phil is done.

Lets hope so.
MS pockets run deep. Theres no secret that alot of Japanese politicians, regulators and public agencies are in US pockets.

Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes, whistleblower alleges

“I don’t want you to be a blocker,” his manager told him.

www.theverge.com

https://www.reuters.com/article/business/microsoft-to-pay-criminal-fine-to-settle-us-anti-bribery-charges-idUSKCN1UH1PA/

Microsoft is using illegal bribes in the Middle East and Africa. Why is the SEC turning a blind eye?

After paying fines for violations in Hungary and South Africa, Microsoft agreed to stop the practice—but I have evidence that I believe shows they continue to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act elsewhere.By Yasser ElabdI was recruited by Microsoft in 1998, and I helped bring the company’s...

www.lioness.co

And fucking lol.

Commitment to Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery | Microsoft Legal

Learn about our commitment to anti-corruption and anti-bribery. Microsoft runs on trust and does not tolerate violations of our standards and policies.

www.microsoft.com

They are such bullshit merchants. They are amongst the biggest scumbag companies and anti privacy companies on the planet.

 

[Kokoloko]

Also get used to that Totoki will shrink those monstrous budgets of ND, SSM, Insomniac etc.

I hope not, those games were amazing and made plenty of money for Playstation. Theres no reason we cant have the best of both worlds.
I want more of those games from ND, SSM, Insomniac and Sucker Punch. But I also want those smaller games PS use to do

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

I hope not, those games were amazing and made plenty of money for Playstation. Theres no reason we cant have the best of both worlds.
I want more of those games from ND, SSM, Insomniac and Sucker Punch. But I also want those smaller games PS use to do

TBF there's no reason Spiderman 2 needed a $300 million budget, especially when the first game's budget was under $100 million. That's a ballooning of costs for other factors well beyond inflation, so I wouldn't mind if for Spiderman 3 they got the budget down to $200 million or even less.

Smaller budgets not only mean more profit margins for them, but less likelihood they do something foolish like commit to Day 1 Steam releases for AAA non-GAAS titles. Because those titles should ideally be drivers for console adoption by being genuine exclusives, at least for a good long while (I personally still think 1-2 years between ports is too soon and has a similar effect on long-term console sales/revenue as putting HFW in PS+ only a year after its B2P launch).

 

[MrAss]

I hope not, those games were amazing and made plenty of money for Playstation. Theres no reason we cant have the best of both worlds.
I want more of those games from ND, SSM, Insomniac and Sucker Punch. But I also want those smaller games PS use to do

yeah I don't think he will shrink their budgets. They will still be in the $200-300 mil range. But he will try to make sure they won't balloon to 400-500 mil

 

[Kokoloko]

TBF there's no reason Spiderman 2 needed a $300 million budget, especially when the first game's budget was under $100 million. That's a ballooning of costs for other factors well beyond inflation, so I wouldn't mind if for Spiderman 3 they got the budget down to $200 million or even less.

Smaller budgets not only mean more profit margins for them, but less likelihood they do something foolish like commit to Day 1 Steam releases for AAA non-GAAS titles. Because those titles should ideally be drivers for console adoption by being genuine exclusives, at least for a good long while (I personally still think 1-2 years between ports is too soon and has a similar effect on long-term console sales/revenue as putting HFW in PS+ only a year after its B2P launch).

yeah I don't think he will shrink their budgets. They will still be in the $200-300 mil range. But he will try to make sure they won't balloon to 400-500 mil

Agreed

 

[Old Gamer]

Lets hope so.
MS pockets run deep. Theres no secret that alot of Japanese politicians, regulators and public agencies are in US pockets.

Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes, whistleblower alleges

“I don’t want you to be a blocker,” his manager told him.

www.theverge.com

https://www.reuters.com/article/business/microsoft-to-pay-criminal-fine-to-settle-us-anti-bribery-charges-idUSKCN1UH1PA/

Microsoft is using illegal bribes in the Middle East and Africa. Why is the SEC turning a blind eye?

After paying fines for violations in Hungary and South Africa, Microsoft agreed to stop the practice—but I have evidence that I believe shows they continue to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act elsewhere.By Yasser ElabdI was recruited by Microsoft in 1998, and I helped bring the company’s...

www.lioness.co

And fucking lol.

Commitment to Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery | Microsoft Legal

Learn about our commitment to anti-corruption and anti-bribery. Microsoft runs on trust and does not tolerate violations of our standards and policies.

www.microsoft.com

They are such bullshit merchants. They are amongst the biggest scumbag companies and anti privacy companies on the planet.

Microsoft are the Good Guys(tm).
Get The Facts! (tm)

 

[MrAss]

TBF there's no reason Spiderman 2 needed a $300 million budget, especially when the first game's budget was under $100 million. That's a ballooning of costs for other factors well beyond inflation, so I wouldn't mind if for Spiderman 3 they got the budget down to $200 million or even less.

Smaller budgets not only mean more profit margins for them, but less likelihood they do something foolish like commit to Day 1 Steam releases for AAA non-GAAS titles. Because those titles should ideally be drivers for console adoption by being genuine exclusives, at least for a good long while (I personally still think 1-2 years between ports is too soon and has a similar effect on long-term console sales/revenue as putting HFW in PS+ only a year after its B2P launch).

I think the main reason was COVID.
The game initially had 200 mil budget with two years of full production and targeted 2022 release date. But the full production took longer than expected because of remote work.

 

[ethomaz]

Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social)

Don't worry, folks — even if Sony buys Kadokawa, rest assured that future Dark Souls and Elden Ring games will still come to Xbox

bsky.app

And some here don’t like him.
It is the only real journalist in the industry… all others are bloggers, streamers, bots, etc but not journalists.

 

[quest4441]

Lets hope so.
MS pockets run deep. Theres no secret that alot of Japanese politicians, regulators and public agencies are in US pockets.

Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes, whistleblower alleges

“I don’t want you to be a blocker,” his manager told him.

www.theverge.com

https://www.reuters.com/article/business/microsoft-to-pay-criminal-fine-to-settle-us-anti-bribery-charges-idUSKCN1UH1PA/

Microsoft is using illegal bribes in the Middle East and Africa. Why is the SEC turning a blind eye?

After paying fines for violations in Hungary and South Africa, Microsoft agreed to stop the practice—but I have evidence that I believe shows they continue to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act elsewhere.By Yasser ElabdI was recruited by Microsoft in 1998, and I helped bring the company’s...

www.lioness.co

And fucking lol.

Commitment to Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery | Microsoft Legal

Learn about our commitment to anti-corruption and anti-bribery. Microsoft runs on trust and does not tolerate violations of our standards and policies.

www.microsoft.com

They are such bullshit merchants. They are amongst the biggest scumbag companies and anti privacy companies on the planet.

Not surprising, They should have limited Microsoft to the OS business only long back. Although the Japanese diet is more prone to bribes from the big zaibatsu's. This deal is dependent upon how hard Sony wants to push because mergers are not viewed in as poor a light as they are in the west.

 

[mibu no ookami]

And some here don’t like him.
It is the only real journalist in the industry… all others are bloggers, streamers, bots, etc but not journalists.

A professional journalist shouldn't be out there trolling companies and gamers...

Jason is a complete clown.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

yeah I don't think he will shrink their budgets. They will still be in the $200-300 mil range. But he will try to make sure they won't balloon to 400-500 mil

Oh boy you don't want to bet on that. You will be in for a surprise. Totoki is definitely going to shrink those budgets. Totoki is a money guy and he will save money where it is possible. 250-300m budget per game is not viable for a business.