Sony says collaboration with FromSoftware could go beyond games

By George Yang Published October 4, 2022

Sony commented on its recent purchase of a minority stake in FromSoftware, the developer behind Elden Ring, saying that PlayStation could go beyond game development with the studio.

Earlier this year, Sony bought a 14.09% stake in FromSoftware, allowing the current owner, Kadokawa Corporation, to further leverage FromSoftware to publish its own games around the world, rather than only self-publishing in Japan, and then having to rely on other partners like Bandai Namco in other regions.

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“You should think of collaborations on the game development side first and foremost, but it’s also not unthinkable with our PlayStation Productions efforts that we explore opportunities,” PlayStation Studios CEO Hermen Hulst tells Reuters.

PlayStation has been expanding more into TV and movies, such as the Uncharted theatrical release and the upcoming The Last of Us show on HBO. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that a similar situation could happen with one of FromSoftware’s properties. Sony has worked with the studio for 2014’s Bloodborne and 2020’s Demons Souls remake.

Hurst also noted in the Reuters interview that PlayStation is continuing to push into the PC and mobile market. While he didn’t provide Reuters with any additional details, Hurst tells Axios that as game development costs have risen, the extra revenue from PC releases has allowed Sony to invest in more projects.

PlayStation is known for its massive single-player narrative-driven games, but it is also looking to push more into live services. PlayStation has multiple live-service games in production right now, including one from Haven.

George Yang is a freelance games writer for Digital Trends. He has written for places such as IGN, GameSpot, The Washington…

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