If FromSoftware’s games are known for something, it’s friction. Games like Dark Souls are punishing, obtuse, and sometimes outright unfair. Elden Ring broke into the mainstream and was a massive success, yet it’s easy to imagine an executive looking at those numbers and seeing nothing but missed opportunities. What if the studio’s games were more user-friendly? What if FromSoftware found more ways to monetize their games?
This, unfortunately, is not entirely a hypothetical scenario.
Though FromSoftware is often associated with Sony or Bandai Namco, 70% of the studio is actually owned by a company called Kadokawa Corporation. Over the last week, Kadokawa has been pulled into a messy public battle with Oasis Management, an investor that owns 13.76% of Kadokawa’s shares, according to an FAQ from the investment company. On June 7, Oasis published a public letter calling for Kadokawa’s shareholders to vote against the continued appointment of its current CEO, Takeshi Natsuno.
In the notice, Oasis Management claims that it has already spent years trying to convince Kadokawa to “fully maximize” the potential of its portfolio. Oasis specifically considers FromSoftware to be Kadokawa’s biggest asset. So they are essentially arguing that FromSoftware’s direction could be optimized to make more money.
Oasis Management might ring a distant bell to some gamers, as the company made headlines in 2014 after an investor told Nintendo that it should consider charging $0.99 to make Mario jump higher. At the time, it wasn’t a suggestion so much as it was an illustration of how new monetization methods could work.
Oasis Management argues that Kadokawa is leaving money on the table by developing games like Elden Ring with external partners like Bandai Namco. Here’s Oasis fleshing out its vision:
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