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Tencent and Sony announce FromSoftware investment stakes

Kadokawa Corporation remains the majority shareholder, but Tencent and Sony's increased stakes make up a combined 30% of ownership in FromSoftware.

TJ Denzer

August 31, 2022 7:40 AM

Image via FromSoftware

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Big moves are happening regarding one of the most beloved video game developers in the world right now. In a year full of big acquisitions, deals, and developer consolidation under major parent companies, Sony and Tencent have made plays to deepen their investment into Dark Souls and Elden Ring developer FromSoftware. The two companies recently increased their stakes in the company - an investment FromSoftware says may aid it in publishing games on a global scale.

The increased investment from Sony and Tencent (with the latter being through subsidiary Sixjoy) was spotted in a filing from majority shareholder Kadokawa Corporation. While Kadokawa is still the majority shareholder on FromSoftware, Tencent and Sony’s investments are sizeable. Sony’s investment gives it a 14.1 percent stake in FromSoftware while Tencent increased its own stake to 16.3 percent, making for a combined 30.4 percent stake in the developer’s overall ownership.

For its own purposes, FromSoftware welcomed these investments and shared plans to use them to expand its efforts into global publishing on both traditional and mobile gaming platforms, as shared in the Kadokawa filing.

FromSoftware already has a strong line of IP behind it. Between active franchises like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and the release of this year’s incredible Elden Ring, the developer is doing quite well for itself. That doesn’t even include dormant franchises like Armored Core, which has been rumored to make a comeback for sometime now.

It is unknown if FromSoftware intends to go into self-publishing like other studios bought up by Tencent have done, or if it intends to publish other developers. Either way, it marks another notable move in video game business and acquisitions this year. Stay tuned for further developments in this story.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.