Sony's Bid to Acquire Kadokawa Excites Employees

Sony has officially expressed its intent to acquire the Japanese conglomerate Kadokawa, and despite the potential loss of independence, Kadokawa's employees are enthusiastic about the prospect of joining forces with the tech giant. Dive deeper to understand the reasons behind their optimism!

Sony And Kadokawa Still In Talks

Sony has confirmed its interest in purchasing the Japanese publishing giant Kadokawa, and the latter has acknowledged this intent. While discussions continue, no final decision has been made public yet. The proposed acquisition has sparked a range of opinions.

Economic analyst Takahiro Suzuki, speaking to Weekly Bunshun, suggested that the acquisition would be more advantageous for Sony than for Kadokawa. Sony, traditionally focused on electronics, is shifting towards the entertainment industry. However, Sony lacks expertise in creating intellectual properties (IPs). Acquiring Kadokawa would allow Sony to "incorporate Kadokawa’s content and strengthen it." Kadokawa boasts a robust portfolio of IPs, including popular titles in gaming, anime, and manga such as "Oshi no Ko," "Dungeon Meshi" (Delicious in Dungeon), and the critically acclaimed game "Elden Ring" by FromSoftware.

However, this move would place Kadokawa under Sony's control, potentially compromising its independence. As translated by Automaton West, "Kadokawa will lose its independence, and management will become stricter. If they want to continue developing their business as freely as they have until now, [the acquisition] would be a bad choice. They’d have to be prepared for publications that don’t lead to IP creation being put under scrutiny."

Kadokawa Employees Reportedly Optimistic On Acquisition

Despite the potential downsides for Kadokawa, its employees are reportedly optimistic about the acquisition. Several employees interviewed by Weekly Bunshun expressed no objections to being acquired by Sony, noting a positive atmosphere surrounding the topic. They remarked, "Why not Sony?" if an acquisition were to occur.

This optimism is partly fueled by dissatisfaction with the current Natsuno administration. A veteran Kadokawa employee shared, "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."

In June of this year, Kadokawa suffered a ransomware cyberattack by the hacker group BlackSuit, resulting in the theft of over 1.5 terabytes of internal data, including legal documents, user-related information, and employees' personal details. The current President and CEO, Takeshi Natsuno, was criticized for his handling of the crisis, contributing to the employees' dissatisfaction.