Sony's Possible Purchase of Kadokawa May Strengthen Its Control Over Anime and Manga Industries
Sony, aiming to become 'the ultimate destination for anime fans,' is reportedly planning to acquire Kadokawa, a Japanese media company known for Elden Ring. This potential acquisition could be finalized within the coming weeks, according to reports.
Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida has stated the company's goal is to invest in sustainable growth, and this move aligns with that objective. Sony aims to achieve this through investing in lovable characters and intellectual property (IP) that can live for 30, 50, or even 100 years.
In February, Sony finalized its merger of Crunchyroll and Funimation. Following this merger, Funimation ended its services in April, and digital copies of anime shows and movies on Funimation became inaccessible to users who merged their accounts on Crunchyroll. The merger, however, gave fans access to over 1,600 hours of anime.
The merger could potentially extend to English publishers like Yen Press, but no details have been provided about the future impact of the merger on these publishers.
Meanwhile, Kadokawa owns popular anime titles such as Delicious in Dungeon, Re: Zero, Oshi no Ko, and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation. The prospective buyer of Kadokawa, Highlight, is expected to sign the contract in October, according to Reuters.
The merger of Sony's streaming service with its competitor could potentially lead to the consolidation of all streamers' storefronts. However, the article does not provide information about any potential post-acquisition clarity issues.
It's important to note that massive layoffs are a possibility following big mergers, such as Microsoft's recent $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. Such redundancies and the need to conflate profit margins could potentially impact both Crunchyroll and Funimation, as well as Kadokawa, if the acquisition goes through.
Sony's acquisition of Kadokawa would give the company more influence in the anime industry, including production and distribution of shows and manga. The future of Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, DC Universe, and Doctor Who releases were mentioned in the article, but no specific information about potential remastering of Bloodborne was provided.
Sony also did not give any information about any specific plans for investing in lovable characters and intellectual property that can live for extended periods. Nevertheless, with the potential acquisition of Kadokawa and the merger of Crunchyroll and Funimation, Sony is making a significant move to strengthen its position in the anime industry.
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