Kadokawa Corporation, the Japanese media conglomerate that contains the former Kadokawa Shoten and Dwango companies, announced in an earnings presentation that it has acquired Acquire, the studio behind the Octopath Traveler, Akiba, Tenchu and Way of the Samurai properties.
In the presentation, Kadokawa called the move a step “[t]o strengthen the ability to create IP in games as part of our game business strategy,” as well as for “promoting expansion of IP in games.”
“By acquiring the company, which has produced million-seller hit titles, we expect to generate synergies with our existing game related subsidiaries, strengthen our planning and development capabilities Groupwide, and enhance our lineup of console games,” it explained, plus that the deal also sets up potential collaborations across its companies and titles.
Acquire has a relatively small but robust series of original intellectual properties. Its most famous is Octopath Traveler, published by Square Enix and received internationally to wide acclaim. Its first game was Tenchu: Stealth Assassins for the original Playstation in 1998, and has since published the Badman, Akiba, and Way of the Samurai series, among otheres.
Acquire joins a strong lineup of game companies part of the corporation. Already in 2019, Dwango, the gaming half of the 2019 merge with Kadokawa Shoten, acquired the Spike and Chunsoft companies; the merged company is responsible for the Dragon Quest, Mystery Dungeon, and Danganronpa properties, as well as publishing many Western titles in Japan.
FromSoftware was acquired in 2014 from Transcomos and is most familiar to gaming enthusiasts for Elden Ring, Armored Core, Dark Souls, and a solid list of many other IPs.
Kadokawa itself is literally one of the biggest media companies in Japan. The Dwango portion, before its merging, was responsible in the West for Doom, Warcraft 2 and Quake’s online services and in Japan for video streaming service NicoNicoDouga (the one with text scrolling across the screen). Kadokawa Shoten, the wider media publishing half, put out major Japanese hits such as Neon Genesis Evangelion’s manga run, Sgt. Frog’s manga, Cowboy Bebop’s manga, Code Geass’s manga, the Haruhi Suzumiya light novels and manga, Lollipop Chainsaw and Killer is Dead.
The price of the acquisition deal is undisclosed.
