Bethesda and Todd Howard revealed The Elder Scrolls 6 back in June 2018 with a short trailer, which didn’t really give us much, if not for a mountain range with a huge castle overlooking the sea, which gamers have had to cling to for over six years now.
There are various theories and speculations on how Howard will handle the game, considering it’s in active development now. However, one thing is clear: if he wants to help Microsoft outsmart Sony’s rumored FromSoftware buyout, Howard must make the title an Xbox exclusive.
Sony Might be Aiming to Acquire FromSoftware
There’s no doubt that FromSoftware has played a massive role in the popularization of the Soulslike genre, most notably with Bloodborne, Dark Souls, Demon’s Souls, and the highly-rated Elden Ring. Recently, it has tried its hand with action genre titles such as Armored Core 6 and Sekiro: Shadows Twice.
In the last couple of years, we’ve seen Sony acquiring several studios to enhance PlayStation’s first-party catalog, and FromSoftware might be the next target. New reports suggest that the Japanese tech giant is discussing the prospect of outright purchasing Kadokawa to boost its entertainment portfolio.
Kadokawa is a Japanese media company that also owns developer FromSoftware, and its business ventures include anime, manga, TV, and film. Sony already has a 2% stake in Kadokawa and a 14% in FromSoftware, so such an acquisition doesn’t sound surprising at all.
It isn’t just the gaming side of the business. Sony has been pushing on anime for quite a while now. The company already owns popular anime streaming platforms such as Funimation and Crunchyroll. Adding another big name like Kadokawa would help the company’s anime business.
The acquisition of Kadokawa will bring other popular gaming subsidiaries such as Danganronpa developer Spike Chunsoft, Octopath Traveler developer Acquire, and RPG Maker developer Gotcha Gotcha Games.
It’s clear that Sony is learning from its recent failures, including Concord, and wants to acquire reputable developers that can push out some generational games for its PlayStation consoles. If Todd Howard and Microsoft don’t make the right move with the next Elder Scrolls game, things could get even worse for Xbox.
FromSoftware Games Might Not Be PlayStation Exclusive
It’s crucial for PlayStation to keep their expectations in check when it comes to FromSoftware joining the gaming giant’s first-party studios.
Since the Kadokawa acquisition was initiated by Sony Group rather than Sony Interactive Entertainment, which is PlayStation’s parent company, there’s a chance that FromSoftware and Kadokawa’s other studios are merged with Sony rather than PlayStation.
This would be quite similar to Sony’s deal with Anipex, where the company publishes its games on whatever platforms it wants to. It’s even skipping PlayStation with the upcoming The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy.
However, Sony probably understands the importance of FromSoftware in today’s day and age and how it could benefit the PlayStation consoles in the long run. So, the studio might go to the PlayStation side, with Sony Group absorbing the rest of Kadokawa for other purposes.
With that said, do you think the Japanese tech giant is making the right move by purchasing the Elden Ring developer? Let us know in the comments below.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
