Sony‘s plan to acquire Kadokawa, FromSoftware’s parent company, has been one of the hottest topics involving Elden Ring. The corporate buyout might just affect old FromSoftware games drastically. And while reports have surfaced that the deal is unlikely to happen, it appears Kadokawa’s disappointed employees are actually excited about Sony’s potential takeover.
According to a translated report from Japanese media outlet Bunshun, Kadokawa’s employees have a different perspective about the potential Sony buyout. Bunshun reportedly interviewed some of the Kadokawa employees, and this was what they had to say:
“The people around me are thrilled at the prospect of an acquisition by Sony. That’s because there’s a certain number of employees who are dissatisfied with the Natsuno administration, which didn’t even bother to hold a press conference after peoples’ personal information was leaked in the cyberattack.
They expect that if Sony were to acquire the company, they would get rid of the president first,” according to a mid-level Kadokawa veteran.
Apparently, there’s a growing dissatisfaction among Kadokawa employees regarding their current leadership and they are hoping that Sony’s buyout would axe their current corporate administration. Kadokawa’s current President and CEO would be none other than Takeshi Natsuno who took office in 2021.
The Recent Cyberattack on Kadokawa Was a Factor
The cyberattack that Kadokawa employees were referring to would be the Blacksuit ransomware on Kadokawa’s services. A total of 1.5 terabytes of data were stolen by the hackers and this includes personal information from service users and employees. Kadokawa’s employees are thus disappointed by their CEO’s response and course of action about the cyberattack.
Apart from the cyberattack scandal, it’s not clear what else Kadokawa employees are displeased with about the company. Economic analysts predict that Kadokawa and thus, FromSoftware might lose their independence if acquired by Sony.
However, such a buyout would boost Kadokawa into a media powerhouse since it also holds stock in streaming services and anime production. Even Kadokawa’s former chairman, Tsugihiko Kadokawa himself, was positive about the potential Sony buyout.
So far, nothing is conclusive yet for Sony’s Kadokawa buyout deal and it’s an ongoing process and negotiation. Given Kadokawa’s recent success with FromSoftware’s video games– particularly Elden Ring; Kadokawa might even demand a higher-than-usual sum from Sony and this could slow the negotiation or even completely dissuade Sony.
