Sony's Bid to Acquire Kadokawa Excites Employees

Sony has confirmed its intent to acquire the Japanese publishing conglomerate Kadokawa, and surprisingly, Kadokawa's employees are thrilled about the prospect, despite the potential loss of independence. Dive in to understand the reasons behind their optimism!

Sony And Kadokawa Still In Talks

More Beneficial For Sony Than Kadokawa, Says Analyst

Sony has officially expressed its desire to purchase the Japanese publishing conglomerate Kadokawa. While discussions are ongoing, no final agreement has been reached yet, leading to varied opinions about the potential acquisition by the tech giant.

Economic analyst Takahiro Suzuki, speaking to Weekly Bunshun, suggested that the acquisition might be more advantageous for Sony than for Kadokawa. Sony, traditionally an electronics company, is shifting its focus towards the entertainment industry. However, creating new intellectual properties (IPs) is not its strength. Therefore, acquiring Kadokawa could allow Sony to "incorporate Kadokawa’s content and strengthen it." Kadokawa boasts a robust library of IPs, including popular titles in the gaming, anime, and manga sectors 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, resulting in a loss of independence. As translated by Automaton West, "Kadokawa will lose its independence, and management will become stricter. If they want to keep 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 appear to be enthusiastic about the acquisition. Interviews conducted by Weekly Bunshun revealed that many employees have no objections and even welcome the idea of being acquired by Sony. When asked about their stance, one employee stated, "Why not Sony?"

The optimism among Kadokawa's workforce seems to be fueled by dissatisfaction with the current Natsuno administration. A veteran 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."

This sentiment stems from an earlier incident in June when Kadokawa was hit by a ransomware cyberattack from the BlackSuit hackers, who stole over 1.5 terabytes of internal data, including legal documents, user-related information, and employees' personal information. The current President and CEO, Takeshi Natsuno, was criticized for his handling of the crisis, leading to widespread dissatisfaction among the staff.