On November 19, the news outlet Reuters reported thatSonywas in talks to acquire Kadokawa Corporation, a major media conglomerate located in Japan. At the time, it was stated that discussions on the matter were still ongoing, and that the proposed deal could be completed in the coming weeks if everything went according to plan. Around a day later, Kadokawa officially published a statement commenting on the report. While it confirmed thatSonyhad sent an acquisition proposal to the company, it said that no final decisions had been made just yet. Kadokawa added that if it had anything else to share regarding this buyout in the future, it would make a formal announcement in a timely manner.
Kadokawa Corporation is a prominent company in the anime and manga industries, and it has a sizable presence in the gaming market, as well. The firm owns a handful of noteworthy developers, including Spike Chunsoft, Acquire Corp., Gotcha Gotcha Games, and even FromSoftware.Sony’s potential acquisition of Kadokawamay marka significant turning point for the gaming landscape, especially if the company decides to make its future games exclusive to PlayStation consoles. Depending on how things play out, this could be very detrimental for Nintendo and two of its franchises:Mario & LuigiandPokemon Mystery Dungeon.
Sony Acquiring Kadokawa May Impact the Mario & Luigi and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Series
The Latest Mario & Luigi Game Was Developed by Acquire, a Kadokawa Subsidiary
TheMario & Luigiserieswas originally created by a company called AlphaDream, which was established by former Square employees who had worked on games likeSuper Mario RPGandFinal Fantasy. AlphaDream developed a total of 7M&Linstallments, two of which were Nintendo 3DS-exclusive remakes. After the commercial failure ofMario & Luigi: Bowser’s Insider Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey, however, the studio went bankrupt and was ultimately shuttered in 2019, thus putting theMario & Luigifranchise on hiatus.
Earlier this month, Nintendo finally broughtM&Lbackwith the release ofMario & Luigi: Brothership, the first brand-new game in the series (excluding remakes) in approximately 9 years. Unlike its predecessors,Mario & Luigi: Brothershipwasn’t developed by AlphaDream. Instead, it was created by Acquire, the studio most recognized for its work on theOctopath Travelergames. Since Acquire is a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, it will potentially become owned by Sony in the future and may therefore be prohibited from developing for non-PlayStation consoles. Assuming this happens, it’s possible that theMario & Luigifranchise may go on hiatus again if Nintendo isn’t able to find a suitable replacement for the studio.
Spike Chunsoft, the Creators of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Are Also Owned By Kadokawa
Unfortunately,Pokemon Mystery Dungeonmay also face a similar issue. Thisseries of roguelike RPGs, which is a crossover between thePokemonandMystery Dungeonfranchises, has been around for a long time. The firstPokemon Mystery Dungeongame came out in 2005 on the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance. Meanwhile, the franchise’s most recent installment was released for the Switch in 2020. So far, every singlePokemon Mystery Dungeongame has been created by Spike Chunsoft, the developer behind hit visual novels likeZero Escape,Danganronpa, andAI: The Somnium Files.
Spike Chunsoft is, as previously mentioned, owned by Kadokawa Corporation. As such, it, like Acquire, may not be allowed to work with Nintendo in the future if it gets bought up by PlayStation. Unless Sony continues to operate Kadokawa and its subsidiaries as semi-independent companies, it is possible thatthePokemon Mystery Dungeonserieswill be killed off entirely due to this proposed acquisition. UnlikeMario & Luigi, Nintendo doesn’t have full control over thePokemon Mystery DungeonIP. Although it has the rights toPokemon, it doesn’t ownMystery Dungeon.If the Kadokawa buyout goes through,Mystery Dungeon will become aSonyfirst-party franchise since it’s owned by Spike Chunsoft, and this may hinder the creation of futurePokemon Mystery Dungeongames.
