Sony and Bandai Namco have announced that the two companies have agreed to a “strategic business alliance.” With this move, Sony now has a 2.5% stake in Bandai Namco, and both companies say that the move is focused on “expanding the fan community for IP such as anime and manga around the world and strengthening engagement.” While anime and manga are the focus, video games are such a massive part of both companies’ businesses, so it’s hard to imagine that that isn’t included as well.
What Does the Sony and Bandai Namco Deal Mean for the Future?
As of this writing, there are no big announcements for what Sony and Bandai Namco could be collaborating on, but there is a lot of room for speculation. Bandai Namco is the publisher for FromSoftware’s Dark Souls and Elden Ring games, so it’s hard not to imagine that that will play a role at some point. Sony is already capable of working with FromSoftware directly (they already own a percentage of it), so we doubt that this is a move to make a new Dark Souls or Elden Ring game. Rather, this probably leaves room for a potential anime to come in the future. Sony owns CrunchyRoll, so rather than making new games, they could work on bringing those games to anime fans.
While some might point to Sony potentially producing an Elden Ring movie, that has already been announced. A24 will be making a live-action movie, and it is being written and directed by Alex Garland. Again, like the statement said, the focus is being put on anime and manga. There’s always a chance for a Dark Souls movie, but those days seem to be passed.
Of course, until an official announcement a year or two down the road, this is all just speculation. Elden Ring is easily at the top of everyone’s minds when it comes to Bandai Namco being mentioned, but there are other potential routes. If you want to really hope and dream, you could say that Sony made this move to find an outside developer to work on a new Bloodborne, and if FromSoftware isn’t going to do it, who better than another company with such experience with those properties? That is truly wishful thinking for fans, though. At the end of the day, this move will likely be focused more on anime adaptions for existing video games.
