In December last year, Sony became the largest shareholder in Elden Ring developer FromSoftware's parent company, Kadokawa, and both companies are expecting the arrangement to lead to more games.
Kadokawa doesn't just publish video games, but lots of manga and anime, too. Its profits are up 16.7% and its gaming division saw 40% growth "thanks to DLC for Elden Ring contributing to domestic and international revenue," according to an earnings report.
As well as the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, Nightreign is expected to do well for the company. "As a cooperative survival action title, the spin-off title offers a new way to enjoy the franchise with a game design that differs completely from the original, in an effort to maximize the LTV [long-term value] of the series."
Relating to Sony's majority stake in the company, the report reads: "We will expedite the creation and distribution of intellectual property by enhancing collaboration with Sony Group Corporation and securing funding from the Group." In short, more games thanks to money from Sony.
Kadokawa is "expanding the development pipeline, including major titles," and "developing a structure to expand the scope of in-house publishing for console and PC games," too.
Sony is aligned with this plan. It wants to "Further expand publishing of Kadokawa's games." Its own earnings report reads: "Through this alliance, the leadership of both companies are even more committed to promoting collaboration, and we aim to create value in various entertainment fields by combining Kadokawaʼs strength in creating original IP with our technologies and global expansion capabilities."
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