Company News From Software Acquired by Publisher Kadokawa Games

[Crooked Bee]

Tags: Dark Souls 2; From Software; Kadokawa Games

It hasn't been long since the Dark Souls II release, and lo and behold, From Software has been acquired by Kadokawa Games, the publisher behind Lollipop Chainsaw, Metal Max, and multiple games based on various anime series (such as Steins;Gate), the developer of the SRPG Natural Doctrine, as well as an anime/manga publisher. Most famous for the Dark Souls series, From Software was founded in 1986; in 1994, it released its first Ultima Underworld-inspired RPG King's Field, later complemented by other video game series such as Shadow Tower and Armored Core. Gamasutra reports:

Japanese publisher Kadokawa today announced that it has acquired Dark Souls studio From Software, with the aim to take advantage of the company's worldwide influence.

From Software, which is also known for series like Armored Core and Tenchu, will now work alongside Kadokawa Games, the umbrella company's existing video game subsidiary, and the two companies will assist each other when it comes to development and marketing.

In particular, Kadokawa says that it plans to expand to new game platforms, overseas markets and more digital platforms, through the production of new video game IP.

Kadokawa Games is best known for publishing titles like Lollipop Chainsaw and Killer is Dead. The studio also develops games, such as Demon Gaze, Natural Doctrine and The Kantai Collection.​

Granted, the From Software owners' intention to cash in on the Dark Souls' success is understandable, but it remains to be seen how exactly Kadokawa will "expand" the studio's IPs, and what this will mean for the overseas distribution. In before Dark Souls visual novel or portable spin-offs?

 

[evdk]

Well, I can stomach a lot off weak spin offs and brand diluting if the core experience remains solid.

 

[deuxhero]

I hope that's new platforms for Kadokawa (as they are already drowning in mobile crap)

Oh and Metal Max, way to fill me with confidence on translation.

 

[Metro]

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Dark Souls coming soon to a tablet near you, using Facebook for multiplayer.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Dark Souls III will have titties like nothing before, based on how every other Kadokawa game looks like.

 

[jcd]

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[Black]

Maybe they'll provide basic programming lessons for From.

 

[Grim Monk]

Wouldn't Namco Bandai have to sign off on any new "Dark Souls" games?
They were the publisher for the series after all...



In before From announcing a new [insert new name here]" Souls series.

 

[Quatlo]

Devil Souls coming 2015 with reused assets again?

Edit: Oh nevermind, apparently From this time has the rights to the Dark Souls franchise.

 

[AstroZombie]

I googled those games mentioned to see if From is in good hands and this was the result:

Kantai Collection (艦隊これくしょん Kantai Korekushon?, lit. "Combined Fleet Collection"), abbreviated as KanColle (艦これ KanKore?), is a Japanese free-to-play online card game developed by Kadokawa Games.

The gameplay is centred upon a mobage-type card battle game, with individual characters represented by various cards with different attributes. Each of the characters are moe anthropomorphisms of World War II naval warships which are depicted as cute girls, known as "Fleet girls"

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Lollipop Chainsouls.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Considering Namco already rushed out a crap PC port for the first Dark Souls and tried to get From to put Dark Souls 2 on tablets already I don't think this could be worse than if they stayed with namco.

 

[StaticSpine]

Oh yeah, about namco:

Dark Souls developer From Software is hesitant to bring the action role-playing game to mobile devices because it would have to change the game's controls, according to publisher Namco Bandai's director of global strategy for mobile, Alex Adjaj.

Speaking to Digital Spy, Adjaj said the publisher is interested in a mobile entry, but the developer has been less enthusiastic.

"We'd like to bring Dark Souls to mobile, but it's very difficult because the guys at From Software are very much console-oriented," he said. "To change their mind about it, it takes quite a while. The leads on Dark Souls are saying, 'we don't want to do mobile because the controls would have to be changed, and therefore it won't beDark Souls any more."

Adjaj told Digital Spy the game "could work incredibly well for mobile," but the company would have to account for the tastes of different markets and redesign it to make it more casual with shorter sessions. "But definitely, it's something we could bring to mobile in a very successful way."

http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/24/5...turned-down-mobile-dark-souls-due-to-controls

 

[jcd]

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[Martius]

Since one of their last games is first person dungeon crawler maybe From Software is not in such bad hands. I dont think that company releases their games alone here (Demon Gaze is publishes here by NIS) so I guess they will still need someone like Bando Namcai.

 

[DragoFireheart]

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/04/28/report-kadokawa-acquires-dark-souls-developers-software/

It has been reported that Japanese publishers Kadokawa have acquired From Software, the developers of the popular Dark Souls and Armored Core series. Gamebiz shares more on the acquisition.



According to the report, Kadokawa’s purchase of From Software will be finalized on May 21, 2014. Kadokawa will acquire 80% of the stock in the company. From Software are planned to be a part of the Kadokawa group, alongside Kadokawa Games, to work on the company’s core games.



Previously, From Software were an independent developer, and had most of their games, such as Dark Souls II, published by Bandai Namco, and others by Sega. [Note: Dark Souls was self-published in Japan.]



With From Software being a part of the Kadokawa group, they expect it to be a mutually beneficial arrangement for both sides with the synergy effect that will provide them with ability to further enhance game development with their respective knowhow and resources.



From Software CEO Naotoshi Zin also shared a few words on the benefits and reasons behind the acquisition, starting with the three key points.

• To further expand platforms. Everything from simple hardware to cloud network.
• The requirement to better correspond to regions (more global, more local).
• The coalescence between content.

“With a new system, from this point on, I believe we’ll be able to make newer and more in depth games.”

Lunar reboot?

 

[DragoFireheart]

Wouldn't Namco Bandai have to sign off on any new "Dark Souls" games?
They were the publisher for the series after all...



In before From announcing a new [insert new name here]" Souls series.

Giant Souls.

Spoiler

 

[Crooked Bee]

Wouldn't Namco Bandai have to sign off on any new "Dark Souls" games?
They were the publisher for the series after all...

Since one of their last games is first person dungeon crawler maybe From Software is not in such bad hands. I dont think that company releases their games alone here (Demon Gaze is publishes here by NIS) so I guess they will still need someone like Bando Namcai.

According to some GAF posters (thread), Namco and Kadokawa have a pretty good business relationship:

Namco Bandai do alot of business with Kadokawa, for instance alot of their Gundam works are being published monthly by Kadokawa.

Kadokawa and Namco are very close anyway, they cross invested in 2007 and their new director as of last year joined from namco

 

[DragoFireheart]

Wouldn't Namco Bandai have to sign off on any new "Dark Souls" games?
They were the publisher for the series after all...

Since one of their last games is first person dungeon crawler maybe From Software is not in such bad hands. I dont think that company releases their games alone here (Demon Gaze is publishes here by NIS) so I guess they will still need someone like Bando Namcai.

According to some GAF posters (thread), Namco and Kadokawa have a pretty good business relationship:

Namco Bandai do alot of business with Kadokawa, for instance alot of their Gundam works are being published monthly by Kadokawa.

Kadokawa and Namco are very close anyway, they cross invested in 2007 and their new director as of last year joined from namco

Almost sounds like a married couple sharing their adopted kid (From).

 

[dumdum]

 

[agentorange]

welp. there goes one of the last japanese devs with any dignity. though they were pretty much self-annihilating at this point with the terrible armored core sequel/reboots and running dark souls into the ground.

 

[DragoFireheart]

...and running dark souls into the ground.

To be fair it was a (mostly) whole new team making Dark Souls 2. It's a wonder they didn't do worse.

 

[Decado]

Was DSII really that bad?

 

[Gozma]

No, it's basically like Terror from the Deep or Fallout 2 - an understudy-developed expansion pack cash-in sequel that fixes a few things and breaks others that's all in all pretty good, but obviously isn't gonna blow any minds unless you haven't played the original.