Major Japanese publisher buys maker Dark Souls

The Japanese company Kadokawa Shoten has acquired a majority stake in development studio From Software. The Japanese studio was also responsible for Demon’s Souls and two Dark Souls games in recent years.

According to data from the Japanese website Gamebiz, which Siliconera translated, Kadokawa Shoten is buying about 80 percent of the shares of From Software. DualShockers reports that Kadokawa Shoten announced the purchase of the game development studio Monday in a conference call on the latest quarterly figures. The company, best known as a publisher of various magazines and Manga books, hopes to strengthen its presence in the game industry in this way.

After the takeover, Kadokawa Shoten wants to work with From Software on new, original games. The western markets are the main target in this regard. By focusing on new consoles, the publisher hopes to be able to grow significantly in those markets. Which games hopes to achieve this goal is not yet known, but From Software has not yet brought the Dark Souls franchise to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It seems logical that Kadokawa Shoten alludes to that.

It is not yet clear which publisher will release new games from From Software. The Dark Souls franchise was published by Bandai Namco, but Kadokawa Shoten has worked with several other publishers in the past to bring his games to European and US markets.