Sony Buys 2.5% Stake in Bandai Namco for Anime, Manga, and Extra

Sony has introduced that it has acquired a 2.5% stake in Bandai Namco, with a view to “increasing the fan neighborhood for IP corresponding to anime and manga world wide”.

In a press launch, Sony says the purpose with reference to buying this stake within the Elden Ring and Tekken studio is “strengthening engagement, significantly within the anime discipline”, an space by which Sony expects “speedy market development”.

Sony acknowledges its earlier collaborations with Bandai Namco, however the firm says it needs to develop these efforts past “video games, anime, and music” right into a “broader vary of areas”, together with merchandising, “experiential leisure”, and extra.

It is value noting that this is not particularly a gaming-related funding; that is the broader Sony company investing in Bandai Namco Holdings moderately than Bandai Namco Leisure, so it does not simply pertain to the latter’s online game output.

Nonetheless, since Sony and Bandai Namco appear targeted on the anime and manga a part of this partnership, it is fully attainable we’ll see some new anime or manga variations of Bandai Namco’s best-known works.

One significantly apparent addition to that catalog would appear to be Elden Ring, which is arguably crying out for an anime adaptation; I am not an enormous fan of the thought of any visible reimagining of FromSoftware’s work, nevertheless it makes much more sense than the recently-revealed live-action film.

Different Bandai Namco properties, like Tekken, the Tales collection, and even perhaps Little Nightmares may very well be prime candidates for anime and manga adaptation, however in fact, we’ll have to attend and see what comes of this partnership to search out out whether or not any of these are on the playing cards.

This information comes simply a few months after Bandai Namco celebrated a powerful 12 months in gross sales phrases, with earnings nearly doubling on the earlier 12 months. That success doubtless comes because of the sturdy efficiency of 2024 releases like Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero.