Better than I thought it was but still, Elden Ring was a massive success due to it being cross-gen and multi-platform. If Sony does acquire Kadokawa and makes From Software exclusive, I don’t see them having the same level of success.
Neither do I, specially if the PSN on PC requirement is forced again like they did with Helldivers 2.
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There it is it’s official there is interest
Sik here - I edited this cos I’d rather you read mine! 
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https://x.com/hazzadorgamin/status/1859151962123751738?s=46&t=O_AGT9SEnlptKOF_2SxtqQ
Emphasis on multiple platform.
Let’s not forget FF, a beloved franchise, actually suffered when going to one platform while Sega had multiple franchises going multiplatform and grew incredibly. FromSoft and others can’t afford that suffering.
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Don’t think the gaming model of From to BUNGiE is anywhere comparable and I see all From software games only being on the Playsation and PC in the future but can see Spike allowed to continue to work on the Switch.
Not too bothered myself find Fromsoftware games far too similar & too hard. Felt Xbox buying Bethesda was a much better deal for us Xbox fans.
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I wonder if we will see the massive amounts of concern trolling about acquisitions despite layoffs with Sony like we did with MS…. lol who am I kidding
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I wonder if it’s the simple maths of it - Elden Ring sold 25 million copies, because it was available everywhere.
Still, fully expect Sony to lock it up!
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Logically I feel it would be dumb to make fromsoftware games exclusive. However, I can easily see Playstation making it Playstation console exclusive and PC with PSN login. From’s game perform well on xbox, and I feel it would be dumb to lock it off from them, but I can see it happen
To this day, Bungie has yet to do good push for Sony’s purchase while ABK did in first year, even more so with recent CoD. It’s all the more reason for others to feel highly skeptical.
Would almost certainly have to be a deal involving stock. Which may scare off current investors
I work with letters of intent a lot and if they have one as this article states Sony is serious about it. Once it’s signed it’s still not 100% official but pretty much is. Iv only seen something not work out on an Loi when there is a major screwup so I’d say it’s a good shot of happening
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If the numbers found online can be trusted(probably not), that’s a probable 30% sales decline from Xbox being excluded for future soulslikes from From. With a smaller percentage decline on PC if they force PSN.
I’ve been a fan of From software since the Kings Field series but I really hate Souls like games, Like I’m so annoyed with them all the backtracking, respawning enemy crap, cheap deaths, lack of story or narrative and the fact we have SO MANY souls clones where the games would be much better if they were just straight action adventure RPG lite games.
So for me fine Sony can have them and if Sony makes them all exclusive I hope it lessens the amount of Soul like games coming out which those games would be better served dropping the annoying “souls” Like Mechanics.
I probably buy 2/3rd of From games that come out to Xbox and end up playing for a few hours get frustrated and annoyed at the lame Souls Mechanics and then stop playing wishing they were just normal Action RPG’s.
A perfect example is Dragon Age Veilguard, it is just a normal action adventure RPG lite game with good characters and a good story and I’m having a blast. If you added the typical Souls mechanics to that game I’d probably have turned it off after 3-4 hrs.
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As someone that loves Soulslike, I agree that more games need to stop trying to copy the genre. As too often they don’t quite get it right and the game suffers for it.
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I do wonder if this goes through and PlayStation make all the Fromsoftware, Spike Chunsoft, Acquire and Gotcha Gotcha games exclusive if it will technically ‘help’ Xbox in the long run.
It might give Xbox the fuel/evidence to go after a Japanese publisher like Sega, Square, Konami or Capcom etc.
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I only care about From’s “soulslikes” (to a lesser degree Lies of P and Wo Long) always roll my eyes at the disingenuous “they’re hard” or “the stories aren’t good” bs from people who dislike them .
Not every dev gets what makes From’s Souls games so good and just makes them cheap so you die alot and thats about it. They lack the level design ,art design, world building and tight gameplay that makes From’s games so good.
Games like Elden Ring (most accessible souls game ever made) arent “hard” they just ask that you actually learn their mechanics , enemy patterns etc and refuse to hold the player’s hand. (Ninja Gaiden 1, 2 and Black on the Xbox were far harder than any Souls) By that metric nearly every game made in the 16 bit era would be considered a “soulslike” by today’s gamers.
Despite how you feel about them they do great on xbox and people other than you enjoy them. Would absolutely suck if Sony snatched them off which I fully expect them to do if they get Kadokawa.
Honestly I would take a thousand “soulslikes” over the next wannabe movie with forced walking sections and crafting.
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I dislike them personally but yes, no need to discredit them. They made a new genre, essentially. Even if I don’t like the trend of souls mechanics added to games randomly, I think its existence is important and I like & respect that it exists. If more new genres are born into the mix, it’s better. I don’t have to like them even.
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Lol those two genres together will be 99% of Sony’s first party / published output from now on if this goes ahead, so if locked up it’ll be a weird situation where you have to buy a console for one and get the other by default.
Walking movies where you have no say + Souls-likes (which practically every exclusive published game they’ve locked up under the Hero projects are) + From will just continue the heavily unbalanced Sony output.
Apart from Helldivers 2, Ghost, Astro Bot and Spider Man all their other developers (including second party) / series will be in one of those 2 categories (apart from Bungie, if they exist much longer but they’re multi-plat anyway)
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I don’t think it’s just about maths. BUNiGE is a massive studio to run with massive costs, thought that was one of the reasons why Microsoft was happy to sell and didn’t look to reacquire BUNGiE never mind how Desitny 2 is a F2P game very different to a Souls game which makes its budget back usually on 1st month sales.
I fully expect the Fromsoftware side of the deal to only make games for PlayStation and PC after the contract with Namco expires.
Shit acquisition gaming wise, From is doing perfectly nowadays and things won’t be getting better with this, i wouldn’t have minded Sony getting Ubi or Square, or even EA since they are not on the best shape, but not From.
About the exclusivity, gotta say im a bit worried about the PC version being delayed a bit, tho the backlash would be huge since Elden Ring (and future From games) sales are mostly on PC, so i have faith.
I really don’t see them releasing their games on Xbox unless they are forced to, in that case we’ll probably hear about this once the acquisition is completed, just like with Bungie.
Overall huge, but boring and meh acquisition.
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