Sony Aims for 9,000 Original IPs Annually with Kadokawa Investment

Now backed by the Sony Group, Kadokawa aims high for 9000 original IP publications per year. Read on to find out how they plan to achieve their ambitious goals!

Kadokawa Aims High With 9000 IP Publications Annually

Sony Group Is Its Biggest Shareholder

Following Sony’s substantial investment and acquisition of a 10% stake, Kadokawa has set its sights on publishing 9000 original IP titles annually. In an interview with the Japanese newspaper Nikkei (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun), Kadokawa President Takeshi Natsuno announced plans to ramp up their publishing output to 9,000 titles per year by fiscal year 2027. This ambitious target represents a 1.5-fold increase over their output in fiscal year 2023.

Image From Kadokawa’s Official Website

With Sony Group now its largest shareholder, Kadokawa is poised to expand internationally, leveraging Sony's "global distribution infrastructure" to disseminate its IPs worldwide. Kadokawa is confident in reaching this goal, as outlined in its medium-term management plan, which projects achieving 7,000 titles by fiscal year 2025.

To support this growth, the Japanese multimedia conglomerate plans to increase its editorial staff to around 1,000, a 1.4 times increase. This expansion aims to enhance efficiency and meet growth targets without overburdening the existing team.

More Titles, More Adaptations, Natsuno Says

As part of these strategic changes, Kadokawa is set to enhance its offerings through a "media mix strategy," which will see its IPs adapted into anime and video games. President Natsuno emphasized, “We want to create a system where pursuing variety and diversity in our works leads to major hits.”

Sony stands to gain significantly from Kadokawa’s market expansion, particularly through its ownership of the anime streaming platform Crunchyroll, which boasts over 15 million paid subscribers. This partnership will facilitate the inclusion of more Kadokawa-owned IPs in Crunchyroll's anime lineup.

Kadokawa's rich IP library includes popular titles such as Bungo Stray Dogs, Oshi no Ko, The Rising of the Shield Hero, Delicious in Dungeon, and My Happy Marriage. Its portfolio also encompasses renowned video game IPs like Elden Ring, Dragon Quest (FromSoftware), the Danganronpa series (Spike Chunsoft), and Mario & Luigi Brotherhood (Acquire), among others, as these developers are part of the Kadokawa group.

Sony has expressed interest in expanding into the multimedia market, aiming to produce more live-action film and TV show adaptations, co-produce anime adaptations, and handle their overseas distribution.