Kadokawa Corporation acquires Octopath Traveler developers

Kadokawa, the parent company for FromSoftware has now acquired the developers of Octopath Traveler, ‘Acquire’. The acquisition will be done entirely as a “wholly owned subsidiary” similar to some of the other game development studios.

“To strengthen the ability to create IP in games as part of our game business strategy, we have made ACQUIRE Corp. into a wholly owned subsidiary,” Kadokawa said in their statement.

“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 line-up of console games,” the company further added.

While the decision might come as a way to maximize profit, Acquire is known to make some of the best-selling games in the market. These games are backed by several fans and while not everyone may like what Acquire makes, the general opinion of gamers is very positive.

What does this mean for gamers?

Kadokawa does not have a reputation for putting studios into forced releases, while Acquire does not have a bad reputation in the gaming scene. The studio has previously worked with Kadokawa to publish Tenchu: Shadow Assassins.

Fromsoftware has been known to put out some bangers, even though the releases are not too frequent. Their most recent game, Armored Core 6 was also a very decent entry in bringing back one of their old franchises.

Currently, Fromsoftware is reportedly working on a DLC expansion for Elden Ring that several people are waiting for. Moving forward in the future, players might also be able to see a collaboration between the two studios.

Both Octopath games were developed by Acquire while the studio was under Square Enix. As for now, it remains to be seen what the first game from the studio will be after joining Kadokawa Corporation once again.