Sony Interactive Entertainment Acquires 14% of Elden Ring Developer FromSoftware

[Kane99]

Source - https://mp1st.com/news/sony-interactive-entertainment-acquires-14-of-elden-ring-developer-fromsoftware

Well that's not that big of an amount. Sony has acquired 14% of FromSoftware. Not sure what that means. I don't think it would result in exclusivity or anything. To me, it looks more like an investment into them. Supposedly they also had a stake in their company before this, which was originally just 1.9% or so. I wonder if this will result in them outright buying them. 14% may not seem like a lot, but it could turn to 20%, then %50 and so on. 

I think it makes sense for Sony to buy them up though. I can see them trying to buy up more stake like this though. 

[killamch89]

21 hours ago, Kane99 said:

Source - https://mp1st.com/news/sony-interactive-entertainment-acquires-14-of-elden-ring-developer-fromsoftware

Well that's not that big of an amount. Sony has acquired 14% of FromSoftware. Not sure what that means. I don't think it would result in exclusivity or anything. To me, it looks more like an investment into them. Supposedly they also had a stake in their company before this, which was originally just 1.9% or so. I wonder if this will result in them outright buying them. 14% may not seem like a lot, but it could turn to 20%, then %50 and so on. 

I think it makes sense for Sony to buy them up though. I can see them trying to buy up more stake like this though. 

That's exactly the point, they don't have Microsoft's budget so they're going to buy up stakes until they completely own it in the long term. How long that'll take is anyone's guess.

[Empire]

Getting FromSoftware would be such a powerful move. Since bloodborne they basically only delivered goty level games. If they acquire FromSoftware they will keep releasing games everywhere except some New IPs once in a decade like bloodborne it's just win-win

[Kane99]

I also heard that the Embracer group is trying to buy into FromSoftware as well. So it could be a competing thing between Sony and Embracer on who gets most ownership. I could see those two trying to buy it outright at some point. I wonder how something like this would work if they both bought 50% each, or close to that. 

[Withywarlock]

On 9/1/2022 at 3:13 AM, Kane99 said:

Well that's not that big of an amount.

I disagree, especially in the grand scale of how many copies of games From Software ship, not to mention sales of merch, tabletop stuff and more. I can only imagine, like @killamch89 rightly points out, it's them playing the long-game.

On 9/1/2022 at 3:13 AM, Kane99 said:

I think it makes sense for Sony to buy them up though. I can see them trying to buy up more stake like this though. 

Agreed on both counts. I've said this a lot so please excuse the repetition, but this further solidifies my belief that Sony acquires talent, and Microsoft acquires licenses. Sony will no doubt want more exclusive titles, but they also want a studio who can work on other projects because the people under the From Software name know their stuff.

21 hours ago, Kane99 said:

I could see those two trying to buy it outright at some point. I wonder how something like this would work if they both bought 50% each, or close to that. 

Quite possibly. The studio/license feeding frenzy is starting to get enjoyable to watch.

[killamch89]

1 hour ago, Withywarlock said:

Agreed on both counts. I've said this a lot so please excuse the repetition, but this further solidifies my belief that Sony acquires talent, and Microsoft acquires licenses. Sony will no doubt want more exclusive titles, but they also want a studio who can work on other projects because the people under the From Software name know their stuff.

I also agree that Sony is very good at spotting talented companies but the modern Sony worries me with their stupid decisions. It's a brilliant move to acquire FromSoftware games but what happens when they don't produce a hit, how will they be treated then.

23 hours ago, Kane99 said:

I also heard that the Embracer group is trying to buy into FromSoftware as well. So it could be a competing thing between Sony and Embracer on who gets most ownership. I could see those two trying to buy it outright at some point. I wonder how something like this would work if they both bought 50% each, or close to that. 

It has happened in the past but I can't really think of a situation where it stayed this way for long. Eventually, one party bought the other's share and I can see Sony doing that down the road.

1 hour ago, Withywarlock said:

Quite possibly. The studio/license feeding frenzy is starting to get enjoyable to watch.

In some sense, it is enjoyable to watch but what happens when only Sony and Microsoft own all the major studios? I'd prefer if some stayed independent to provide some competition.

[Ajibusu]

Sony Entertainment are just flexing their muscles with this acquisition.  You know that they always buy a stake on games that have a favorable future and Elden Ring is one of those games.

[Heatman]

It looks like Sony wants to get into developing more of Soul's game's now by getting 14% of FromSoftware Inc. It's a good move in the right direction in my opinion because the company have potentials. Take a good look at how Elden Ring was done, it's impressive. 

[Justin11]

The success of Elden ring when but was released and till date is very fascinating and I think that's the reason why Sony becomes Interested in it and decided to buy 14 percent of the game.