From Software bought out by Kadokawa

Your favorite publisher standing behind your even more favorite games like Lollipop Chainsaw or Killer is Dead has bought 80% of From Software.

I for one look forward to the inevitable Grasshopper/From Software collaboration.

As in Kadokawa Shoten, the anime company?

@nasar7: Kadokawa is a large media company. They're not specifically an anime production house.

A Dark Souls game with the colour palette of a Grasshopper game would be interesting to see.

@hailinel said:

Ah, so it is the same company. Well I suppose anything that gets them away from the Namco Bandai is a good thing.

Travis Touchdown with his beam katana as red phantom in Dark Souls 3 here we goooooo

This seems like a good merger, from the perspective of them both being companies that don't put out anything I'm interested in. Perhaps they should consider a partnership with Konami, as well.

This is surprising news, since you'd think From would sell themselves to someone bigger, but they're in the same wheelhouse so it makes sense. Dark Souls spinoff game that's only released in Japan incoming!

Traviselle Touchdaun

Ancient knight, guardian to Sylvi Crystal

@humanity: Kadokawa's relationship with Grasshopper is likely over now now, as GungHo bought the latter not too long ago.

Still trying to figure out if this is good or not...

Sony and Microsoft missed a huge opportunity by failing to buy up From Software. The Souls series is fucking hot. Every Souls die-hard would go to hell and back to play the next Souls game. If it was a platform exclusive, that'd be guaranteed to drive hardware sales. Demon's Souls sure as hell got me to buy a PS3, a platform I had only condescension beforehand.

Look at me now, between PS3 & PS Vita & PS4 and my PS Plus subscription and the awesomeness that are PSN sales, other platforms pretty much don't have a leg to stand-on. I just don't have the time to spare.

I know I'd buy an Xbox One, if it was the only platform I could play the Souls franchise on. Right now, I don't know what else Microsoft could do, to get me to buy into their new platform. Of course I already have a PS4, and I'd have been grinning smuggly, if Sony had incorporated From Software into their World Wide Studios. Would've been the perfect win.

I don't know Kadokawa. I'm hoping they aren't messing with the Souls franchise. I am expecting another decade of this hot Souls shit.

Hey, maybe now we'll get Grasshopper games that actually play well, and From Software games that don't look like garbage.

I'm half kidding. As cool as some of the monster designs in the Souls games can be, overall it just seems generic dark fantasy to me.

I wonder if this'll be the end of their attempts to bring the Souls games to PC.

Dark spirit MOE HUNTER has invaded!

Cant wait for the busty cleavage DLC for DS2.

I can't figure out if most gamers are completely ignorant about what corporate buyouts actually mean or if it is just the predictable failed attempts at comedy every time a game studio is bought out, but either way the reactions to these things always leave me shaking my head.

The notion that Atlus being bought by Sega would mean Sonic would be included in their games, or that Bethesda buying id would result in Doom 4 being open world, or now that this purchase would mean the next Dark Souls will be more like Grasshopper games is dumb on so many levels. Just because two games studios are owned by the same publisher doesn't bring with it any implication that the games made by those studios would somehow crossover.

Speculating about technology sharing (like EA and its frostbite ubiquity) or business strategies is one thing, but to suggest that the creative aspects of a studio will somehow become more like other studios owned by the same company is beyond stupid.

@ll_exile_ll: Most people are just having fun. I don't actually expect any crossover action just because a certain developer shares the same publisher umbrella with another development house.

Pack it up guys; Souls is over. We had a good run, but it's come to an end.

That's BS. If anything they'll have more money to put towards the souls games. Or, more likely, nothing will change.

Yeah, I was joking haha

So they're going to start publishing good games finally?

You are all wrong. It's going to be Kantai Collection: Dark Souls edition.

@ll_exile_ll: It's obvious that everyone who suggests anything like that in this thread is joking.

Fantastic. This gives my dream scenario of a Miyazaki driven Tenchu revival some legs. Kadokawa love their Chanbara.

Killer is Dead was good.....

I mean yeah, the sexist garbage was annoying, but it was fun...

Poor Grasshopper :(

Sticky white stuff...

So is this considered a good or bad thing for the future of the Souls Series?

At this point, I don't think that there's anything to honestly worry about. It's not like they were restrictive on what Suda 51 and Grasshopper could do with Lollipop Chainsaw and Killer is Dead (though Grasshopper was never actually owned by Kadokawa). I would expect that they recognize the popularity of the Souls series, so we'll probably see another Souls game (or something similarly along those lines) in the next few years.

Bottom line, these guys aren't EA, so don't expect From Software to suddenly lose their soul overnight.

No pun intended eh?

Well that's good to hear regardless. Honestly I know nothing about Kadokawa, so was just genuinely curious.

D'oh! Nope!

ENB put up a pretty good video talking about what all this means or could mean for Fromsoft. He talks over a clip of himself playing DS2 so play it minimized or in another window if you will freak over seeing stuff you haven't seen yet.

The only thing I know about Kadokawa is that they own Gamera. This better end with From Software making a Gamera game, that would be so... terrible, probably, but I still want it to happen.

Kadokawa isn't good at making games but they know who makes good games and it not a bad move to take up the studio. It the same as Sega sammy getting Atlus, Keep a good studio alive and help them make games that will do well. Also Dark souls anime, how cool would that be?

Unlikely as it may seem, but...

I would play a mecha anime tie-in built on the Armored Core engine.