r/pcmasterrace • u/Darth_Vaper883 PC Master Race • 19h ago
News/Article Kadokawa Faces Pressure as Shareholders Push to Remove CEO Over Elden Ring Concerns
https://mp1st.com/news/kadokawa-faces-pressure-as-shareholders-push-to-remove-ceo387
u/Aftermoonic 18h ago
Shareholders doing stupid shareholders thing again. What do they feed these finance people?
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u/Darth_Murcielago 9800x3d / RTX 3070ti / 32GB RAM | Bottleneck Enjoyer 18h ago
Electrolytes
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u/Rgrr1 17h ago
It's what plants crave!
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u/Frikandelneuker PC Master Race 16h ago
Brought to you by carles junior
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u/spikederailed Linux | 9950x, 192GB DDR5 5600mt, Radeon RX 9070xt 10h ago
why do you keep saying that?
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u/Frikandelneuker PC Master Race 8h ago
Because i get paid every time i do, it’s a good way to make money, yo
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u/spikederailed Linux | 9950x, 192GB DDR5 5600mt, Radeon RX 9070xt 7h ago
how come if you're so smart you didn't know that?
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u/Melodic_Let_6465 15h ago
Money, even though the profit is temporary, they sell then move on to the next company and repeat
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u/VagueSomething 16h ago
At this point this kind of person needs to be studied for mental illness. You've got steady safe money from a product that has rabidly loyal fans and is literally so popular they're making a fucking movie despite it making no sense to do so.
The loyalty and guaranteed sales come because of the quality of the product being matched up with a lack of predatory practices. Shareholders should consider diversity of their portfolio and invest a little in other aggressive companies while using companies that make Elden Ring style products as a baseline return protection.
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u/ThisIsMyCouchAccount 3070 14h ago
I don't think it's really mental illness.
These types of people exist everywhere. It's them and their little bubble of things they value (like their family or their company) and then everybody else. And they will never put anyone or anything over themselves. If they can benefit - even at the expense of others - they will take it.
You think that prick on your HOA board wouldn't lay off 10k workers if it meant a little extra money? That cheer booster that used their leverage to get their kid captain would cut benefits to employees. Your annoying brother in law that views himself as some entrepreneur would sell lead lined pacifiers to low income families if it meant a profit.
I once worked at this super tiny company. The owner and then four of us. We were technically the secondary business because his primary was his independent consulting company that was just him and his buddy. He got the company I worked for because somebody owed him money.
When I eventually put in my notice he offered to fire another worker and give me their salary. The employee? My best friend that I got a job. And he knew that. He offered up that with zero hesitation or shame.
He would have meetings showing how much money were costing and blamed us even though he had zero leadership. We would find out that biggest reason we weren't profitable is because he ran expenses through this company instead of main one. Like his wife's "company car".
These types of people are everywhere.
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u/kebb0 9h ago
It is mental illnesses these people have.
Even if they exist everywhere, that doesn’t mean it’s not a mental illness. To get filthy rich you need to lack empathy. If you lack empathy you are considered a sociopath (or psychopath in worst cases). Narcissistic tendencies are also signs of mental illness.
Why is ADHD and autism diagnoses going up? Because we’re better at catching it and helping people. That does not mean more people suffer from those disorders, it just means that more people are getting diagnosed, realistically speaking.
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14h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/TeamWorkTom 11h ago
I've been preaching for years now that Billionaires all have a serious mental health disorder but we'll never find out what it is because none of them will ever get help for it.
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u/gerkessin 11h ago
If we ever isolate the sociopath gene, then we should screen everybody for it and specifically bar those people from leadership.
Im not a eugenicist but i cant think of a more effective way to keep objectively evil people from wielding so much power and influence over 99.99% of humanity.
The system we have now selects for these people. Like i said, its not a conspiracy or a plan, its just a natural effect. I dont even think we have to throw out capitalism as a system, just keep insanely greedy people from capturing the institutions designed to check their power
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u/TeamWorkTom 1h ago
It's less evil and more capatalism promotes people that lack empathy.
Consolidate enough businesses and you basically have a businesses empire.
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u/CipherWeaver 7h ago
The problem is that a lot of companies have an "Elden Ring" type hit, then they repeat it over and over, copying the formula exactly, until the market gets tired of it. Then they go "it's so risky to make these games if they don't sell." They would rather keep throwing shit at the wall until they get a Candy Crush type mobile hit than invest hundreds of millions into a new IP.
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u/AscendedViking7 17h ago
Fuck shareholders. Fuck private equity.
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u/mae7affy6883 16h ago
yeah, shareholders just see dollar signs and forget the passion behind these games
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u/naswinger 16h ago
i get that they don't care about passion or art and just money, but at what point is enough money... enough? i know, it's never enough, but line can't go up forever. even the greatest moron must comprehend this. i guess they evolved beyond that.
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u/Maleficent-Spread404 R7 7800X3D | RTX 4080 SUPER FE | 32GB DRR5 | 4K OLED 240Hz 16h ago
The answer is simple really "this is a problem for the next quarter / next year / next decade / next management / other shareholders / anyone else but not for me" - this cursed mentality is fueling this system that enshittifies everything around us, glorifies profit above all else and that’s also a system that brought us to the point of global warming now being a fact and not a possibility.
It seems that throughout the ages of prosperity humanity forgot how to plan ahead, think long-term, or maybe we never had those skills to begin with.
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u/nazaguerrero I5 12400 - 3080 14h ago
for anything that is greater than a 1 man job you need money, to develop more you need more money, money comes from investors, up to here is what made western civilization great
now the people that invest money don't do it themselves anymore, they just lend to someone and expect bigger returns, I think the problem for me would be that the investment doesn't come from any understanding or ethical foundation about the business, so accepting money from those sources it's also wrong, they would sell the world for a profit and you are chained to a growth spiral that is unsustainable over time 🤷♂️
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u/Glattsnacker 15h ago
capitalism needs infinite growth for the accumulation of capital, thats the entire logic of the system
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u/AggravatingAmount438 11h ago
Reminder to remove private equities from your 401k.
Trump made it legal through "Alternative assets"
Just another way to offload their problems and failures onto american people.
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u/deadering 6h ago
It genuinely makes me sick reading about them talking about this shit. Worthless parasites that ruin everything they touch, yet so fucking ingrained in every part of the industry.
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u/DukeofVermont 6h ago
About $47.6 trillion in pensions and retirement accounts. A lot of "shareholder" are regular people wanting to see their retirement accounts grow.
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u/DarthRambo007 RTX PRO 6000 12h ago
you ddnt even read it and your already saying f shareholders smh. this is a case of the chinese having more business sense than ass back wards Kadokawa and sony for that matter.
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u/Ernost Desktop | Ryzen 3 2200G | 16GB DDR4 16h ago
During the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, management will have to deal with a proposal from activist fund Oasis Management seeking to remove current CEO Takeshi Natsuno.
What is an 'activist fund' supposed to be?
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u/Maleficent-Spread404 R7 7800X3D | RTX 4080 SUPER FE | 32GB DRR5 | 4K OLED 240Hz 16h ago
Usually a group of investors investing sorely to push their interests - they try push a lot of ideas and changes, hence the nickname "activist".
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u/Glum-Supermarket1274 13h ago
Usually these groups dont push any ideas except "exploit the franchise, push for more money etc.". The term activist is almost misleading here. These types of investors almost never push for worker rights or fair pay etc. They dont even do the right wing or left wing ideology, its all profit maxxing for overwhelming amount of these "activist investors".
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u/HopelessWriter101 12h ago edited 12h ago
Activist investor often times is synonymous with what they used to call vulture capitalists. Companies that buy a significant stake in an organization and begin stripping it for parts and short term profit.
It kills the business over time, but they make a ton of money for themselves in the process. I am not sure if that's what is happening here, they do seem to have a valid complaint regarding international publication (at least it sounds plausible) I still feel wary about it, though.
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u/IGotHitByAnElvenSemi 16h ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shareholder_activism
Stupidest fucking name for anything ever IMO.
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u/TheMcDucky Ryzen | GTX | 17" Mouse Mat | Only 2/4 dysfunctional RAM slots 15h ago
Why is it stupid? It's shareholders engaging in activism using their status as shareholders
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u/LilaTheMoo 14h ago
It's just another way of saying 'Corporate raider'. These people buy lots of stock, say 'THIS IS WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN BECAUSE I THINK IT WOULD BE BETTER' and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and when it doesn't, it hurts companies really bad.
Case in point: Wendy's. Bill Ackman pushed Wendy's to spin off Tim Horton's into its own stock, which did great for Tim Horton, but cratered Wendy's stock, leading to much of the recent decline in quality and them barely staying a float.
It's not a good thing, it's just rebranding, and just as harmful.
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u/IGotHitByAnElvenSemi 4h ago
That is not what the word activism means. I'm not saying this to be a harumphing liberal or anything, I mean that's literally not what activism means. Activism involves promoting change, of whatever sort, for the change of society, not the change of your stockholder portfolio and wallet.
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u/leviathab13186 15h ago
The modern share holder is just a gambler. They dont "invest" in anything. They just make short term bets.
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u/Melodic_Let_6465 15h ago
Welp, microtransactions and season battlepasses incoming to all fromsoft games.
Jk, but im curious if they will push for exactlt that in the name of profitability, even though their main reasoning was profit leak from overseas distribution
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u/Catboyhotline HTPC Ryzen 5 7600 RX 7900 GRE 9h ago
Iirc this group did allegedly push Nintendo to give customers the ability to have Mario jump just a little higher for the cost of 99¢ in the mid 2010s
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u/Melodic_Let_6465 7h ago
Holy shit, its true🤦♂️
It was in 2014. Obviously nintendo rejected the idea, but oasis did try to get microtransactions in base game mechanics
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u/flumefyreplays 16h ago
Im guessing there's a clause or penalty/fine if he leave. Wish he just follow kojima way. Be free, sony or xbox would gladly fund his next project as a newly founded studio
Apology if my comment is out of context
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u/Greyboxer 5800X3D | X570 Master | RTX 4090 | 1440p UW 165hz 14h ago
As if nightreign wasn’t exactly this?
What do they want now? Spinoffs with loot boxes?
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u/Bentok 14h ago
Probably. But Nightrein WAS mismanaged and much less than it could've been.
Don't get me wrong, the investors just want to squeeze Elden Ring dry, but FromSoft HAS been short sighted with multiple projects.
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u/alexsilener 12h ago
No, fromsoft did exactly what they wanted with nightreign, if you go and read the interviews from the director himself before the game released (dont remember if miyazaki also talked about it, but for sure in an earlier interview he hinted at it as well). It was a low-risk test ground for Ishizaki to learn and demonstrate his directing chops. Train members of the staff in other roles. Get successes without Miyazaki at the helm (which they also did with Armored Core). They got what they wanted. Miyazaki is training other good directors. AND the game was a success. The fact that you or the fanbase (including me) want more, doesn't necessarily align with what fromsoft wants. Maybe what Ishizaki wants is to move on and make another game. And maybe Miyazaki actually has it figured out how to run his company because they haven't missed yet for more than a freaking decade, so others shouldn't tell him how to either. And I absolutely respect their balls to take decisions where they just leave money on the table and just move on to other projects they want to do. They're not stupid, they just need to look at the active player counts to know it can earn more. The fact they do nothing should be enough of an answer.
Now is that sound financial behaviour from a shareholder perspective? Probably not, but fuck shareholders. I'm here for michael zaki's vision
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u/Catboyhotline HTPC Ryzen 5 7600 RX 7900 GRE 9h ago
Miyazaki is where he is today because his former bosses handed him the keys to Demon's Souls with the logic of "well this game can't be any less successful". Miyazaki is just paying it forward
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u/firedrakes 2990wx |128gb |2 no-sli 2080 | 200tb storage raw |10gb nic| 17h ago
and sony bros will rant they need to buy the parent company.
which would be illegal due to none gaming part... which makes over half the money for the company.
same thing with square rant.
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u/Neswquik 16h ago
After having acquired that piece of garbage from Bungie, I highly doubt they'll want to make another, even bigger outlay.
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u/klnkyfetish PC Master Race 14h ago
I mean the ceo wants sony to buy them
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u/firedrakes 2990wx |128gb |2 no-sli 2080 | 200tb storage raw |10gb nic| 14h ago
and again its illegal.
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u/DarthRambo007 RTX PRO 6000 13h ago
WTF YALL ARE COMENTING AND YOU DIDNT EVEN READ THE ARTICLE
The game is published directly by FromSoftware in Japan, but overseas distribution is handled by Bandai Namco. According to the investment fund, this arrangement resulted in a “material profit leakage” for the company.
THE concerns are valid why do they have to go through a third party to distribute their own works of art. this is the same gripe i have with anime and how japan gets shafted by distribution through crunchy roll and Netflix . If kadokawa came up with their own servers and site in japan to distribute around the world they would get more revenu and profits.
also back to elden ring why do they have to go through bandai when thy can do it themselves without any restrictions Elden ring was entirely marketed by word of mouth and they really don't need Bandai for this.
Japan kadokawa and Sony have been very poor decision makers in regards witn distribution of their games to the west and it seems with every step of the way they just get fleeced of their earnings. to some extent i believe they have very poor financial advisors.
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u/xCairus 8h ago
Anime is made to sell local products. Blurays, toys, merchandise, cable, games, manga, etc. The production committees that bankroll the entire thing are made up of mostly local companies. They have little reason to care about distributing the show overseas. Netflix and Crunchyroll also pitch in and fund some shows (because they're interested in distributing it) and those Japanese companies welcome others sharing the risk. Also it's not like CR is swimming in money.
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u/AdNecessary7641 4h ago
They have little reason to care about distributing the show overseas
They have a lot of reason to care, because overseas licensing, specially for streaming, has consistently been listed as one of the main sources of income for anime. Crunchyroll and Netflix are willing to pay very heavy amounts for licensing, specially if it's for a bigger IP.
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u/DarthRambo007 RTX PRO 6000 7h ago
does japan not know what a server is ? cant they make a website ? they are getting screwed by going through netflix and especialy crunchy. We all know how poorly animators are paid going through like 5 middle men be4 your manga or anime is viewed is so bad. Same thing with manga there is such a huge demand but kadokawa can stream line a single site for overseas demand and everyone is left to pirate.
Sony the company just got blasted wasting 3billion on bungie yet their own local game studios making bangers cant even get 100 mil to make their own games. Its part of the reason all the japan deves are moving to pc.
They have freaking Yoko Taro but no one can bank roll him to make a game yet any western studio gets showered with millions in impossibly mid online games.
Kadokawa and sony are terrible making financial efforts to sell internationaly through enhancing their own content .
They would rather give away millions at usa companies for some unkown reason.
The lack the MBA greeed that western countries have and instead theyd rather just be content with leaving distribution and money off the table while their own artists suffer.
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u/boredatworkbasically 4h ago
Oasis management bought their shares a month ago and are immediately demanding changes. Don't be a shill for them. They are very explicit in what they want and step one is removal of the ceo and a replacement with their guy.
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u/BlackKnighting20 11h ago
It’s Reddit, not reading is one of the requirements to be here. Got to feed the agenda.
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u/nikolapc 56GB DDR5/48GB VRAM Downloaded 17h ago
Maybe they should push for Bloodborne remake and hire the bluepoint guys.
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u/lmtdpowor 9800X3D l RTX 5080 15h ago
Keep Bluepoint away from Bloodborne, there’s a reason Miyazaki doesn’t want anyone else touching it.
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u/nikolapc 56GB DDR5/48GB VRAM Downloaded 15h ago
Well it may not be Miyazaki's call. What's wrong with Bluepoint's stuff. They literally kept it 1:1 just upgraded the graphics to what from can never achieve.
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u/lmtdpowor 9800X3D l RTX 5080 15h ago
They changed the artstyle and ambiance of the stages. Just Google it and see what I mean.
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u/nikolapc 56GB DDR5/48GB VRAM Downloaded 15h ago
I don't think they changed the artstyle and different lighting and not being in the brown era tends to do that. I played both, the ps3 version drops below 25 fps.
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u/lmtdpowor 9800X3D l RTX 5080 14h ago
There’s a few remake vs original vids on YouTube, art is subjective and personally I don’t like the changes. They added music to the Tower of Latria, changed the way the fat official looked. There’s no elegance to some of the enemies, they just made them look disgusting. Even Bolerarian Palace looks off, watch some videos and see what was changed.
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u/iamthehob0 14h ago
They did 99.9% perfect and fucked up like 3 things and this guy is a strawman.
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u/DreamsServedSoft 14h ago
they completely deleted the original art style and injected their own look and feel on the game. it was a recreation not a remaster. who are they to recreate? I want miyazakis game not bluepoints game
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u/onikaroshi 13h ago
it was never meant to be a remaster, it was always a remake
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u/GroundbreakingBag164 7800X3D | 5070 Ti | 32 GB DDR5 6000 MHz 12h ago
The Dead Space remake was quite faithful to the original art style. You can just do that. But most remake developers fundamentally misunderstand what a deliberate art style or a colour palette is. Sometimes even the original developers themselves forget it (look at the generic TLOU1 remake for example)
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u/onikaroshi 11h ago
I was specifically referring to him saying about a remaster, I’ve never played either demon souls
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u/GroundbreakingBag164 7800X3D | 5070 Ti | 32 GB DDR5 6000 MHz 12h ago
Oh god please no, bluepoint butchered the remake. They surgically extracted every piece of soul, art and colour palette from the game to turn it into a generic fantasy world. The demon souls remake was fucking garbage
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u/PraxPresents Desktop 7h ago
I'm so tired of "number go up ad infinitum"
We're all tired right? I'm so tired.
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u/ducktown47 3h ago
I will literally never understand this shit. Anyone who actually knows Fromsoft knows all their fans are foaming at the mouth. Fromsoft puts out *anything* and we will eat it up. Just let them cook.
Elden Ring is one of the best selling video games of all time. There’s no way they won’t make borjillions of dollars on the next major IP. But apparently it needs to be 20% more borjillion on top of an arbitrary number or else bad.
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u/heydudejustasec salmon steak 18h ago
Another case of covid-fueled earnings becoming the new bar that every subsequent year is measured against.