{"id":1176423,"date":"2026-08-30T01:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T01:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1176423\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T01:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T01:12:20","slug":"sony-will-explore-new-game-projects-via-180m-stake-in-japanese-publisher-but-playstation-is-not-involved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1176423\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony Will Explore New Game Projects via $180m Stake in Japanese Publisher, But PlayStation Is Not Involved"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sony<\/a> Image: Push Square<\/p>\n

One of the truly strange things about Sony is sometimes it feels like its divisions aren\u2019t aligned.<\/p>\n

While the company has broadly gotten better at unifying its various units, you still get oddities, like Sony Music subsidiary Aniplex supporting Switch and not PlayStation.<\/p>\n

And that inconsistency could continue with the record label\u2019s decision to become a major shareholder in Japanese publisher GungHo Online Entertainment.<\/p>\n

The deal \u2013 worth approximately ~$180 million \u2013 will see it explore new opportunities, like the development of smartphone and console games that leverage Sony Music\u2019s intellectual property.<\/p>\n

The crucial thing here is that the PlayStation division is not involved, even though GungHo Online Entertainment makes games, like Puzzle & Dragons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also published Let It Die<\/a> on the PS4 and its successor Let It Die: Inferno<\/a> on the PS5, as well as Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter<\/a> in North America specifically.<\/p>\n

This deal is subject to regulatory approval, although both parties expect it to close by 30th December, 2026.<\/p>\n

Like I said previously, I find Sony Music Entertainment\u2019s continued involvement in games a bit bizarre; I really don\u2019t get why aspects of Aniplex aren\u2019t brought under the PlayStation umbrella.<\/p>\n

I do understand it\u2019s organisationally complicated, and there\u2019s a lot of synergy between all of the entertainment aspects of Sony\u2019s business anyway.<\/p>\n

But it does feel a bit unwieldy when you see titles like The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy<\/a> earn rave reviews on the Switch, with no plans for a PS5 port<\/a> \u2013 despite being published by a Sony subsidiary.<\/p>\n

[source ssl4.eir-parts.net<\/a>, via gematsu.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n

\n
See Also<\/dt>\n
\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

\"Sammy<\/p>\n

As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He\u2019s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image: Push Square One of the truly strange things about Sony is sometimes it feels like its divisions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1176424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[15514,806,341,53,16,15],"class_list":["post-1176423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-gungho","tag-industry","tag-sony","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1176423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1176423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1176423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1176424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1176423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1176423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1176423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}