Rumour: Kadokawa Employees Eager for Sony Buyout and Change in Management | Push Square

pushsquare.com:

Sony's potential buyout of Kadokawa — which has been widely reported on over the last few weeks — is apparently being encouraged by Kadokawa employees.

That's according to a fresh article by Japanese publication Bunshun (as covered by Automaton). An anonymous «veteran» employee of Kadokawa told the outlet: «The people around me are thrilled at the prospect of an acquisition by Sony.»

In part, this is because Kadokawa suffered a cyberattack earlier in the year, in which personal data was leaked. Supposedly, employees weren't happy with the way that the company's management reacted to the situation: "[They] didn’t even bother to hold a press conference after peoples’ personal information was leaked."

The hope, then, is that Sony's acquisition will result in a change of management. Kadokawa's current CEO is Takeshi Natsuno, who took up the role back in 2021. But again, it sounds like he isn't very popular with his workforce right now — based on these anonymous statements, at least.

Given all of this hubbub, it'll be very interesting to see how things unfurl over the coming weeks and months. As the reports point out, opinions on the acquisition have been mixed; there's some concern that Sony would strip Kadokawa of its independence — and that the deal itself benefits Sony much more than its target.

Or not at all

Sony sends «letter of intent» to Kadokawa

It's also well worth reiterating that Kadokawa is the parent company of Elden Ring and Dark Souls developer FromSoftware. That fact adds a different angle to the whole saga, especially from a PlayStation perspective.

Do you think this buyout's going to happen? What's your take on the acquisition in general? Make some shrewd business decisions in the comments section below.

Robert (or Rob if you're lazy) is an assistant editor of Push Square, and has been a fan of PlayStation since the 90s, when Tekken 2 introduced him to the incredible world of video games. He still takes his fighting games seriously, but RPGs are his