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Nikkei - Sony sets out to conquer entertainment world with anime (with multi-pronged strategy including games)

Nightengale

Nightengale

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Oct 26, 2017
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TOKYO – Sony will leverage the combined strength of the group companies to expand its animation business overseas, making it the fourth pillar of its entertainment portfolio after music, movies and games.

"Our group is keen to help bring Japanese cartoons to fans around the world," Sony Chairman Kenichiro Yoshida said at a strategy meeting on May 19., describing animation as a "company that embodies the 'One Sony' concept".
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Sony is betting on "Demon Slayer" for even more success. Aniplex President, Atsuhiro Iwakami, wants to make the series a centerpiece of Aniplex's prowess. It's already made the manga into a blockbuster anime, and will now follow with a movie version hitting theaters this summer. Sony's units will also turn the anime into games for mobile and PlayStation 4, with the ability to promote it overseas.

Anime units have gotten very competitive by focusing on strengths, with Animax highlighting what he calls the 4 Bones: On Air, On Demand, Ground, and Original Production. This strategy aims to maximize the value of intellectual property and increase average revenue per user. The main focus is on original production, with the company merging different teams in July to build that capacity.
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Aniplex acquired a stake in French streaming service provider Wakanim in 2015 and purchased Australian distribution company Madman Anime Group in 2017. Sony Pictures Television Networks, a US unit, purchased Funimation in the same year. Aniplex and SPT announced in September 2019 that they would merge the three companies and manage them as part of a joint venture in a face-to-face challenge with Disney and Netflix.

As part of a drastic organizational change slated for April 2021, Sony will be called Sony Group, with all units under one roof. This is intended to facilitate the development of individual businesses for the greater good. The anime should be the test case for whether the new approach works.

A strategy for the anime sector is already unfolding. In July, Sony invested $ 250 million in Epic Games, the US operator of the online multiplayer game Fortnite. The game has since evolved into a multimedia platform, with live music events built into the game.
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Link for further reading here: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Me...out-to-conquer-entertainment-world-with-anime
 
AshenOne

AshenOne

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Feb 21, 2018
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As a HUGE lover of anime, asian novels and anime games I surely wouldn't want sony to conquer the games part since then I wouldn't be able to play my favourite anime games and stuff. Already sick of this exclusivity BS in gaming. Bandai, KOEI Techmo are doing a decent job at it.
 

Deleted member 56752

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Man demon slayer is that new hotness huh? I liked the sub but didn't love it. Art style I did love .
 
entremet

entremet

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Anime sure has made a huge turnaround in the streaming era. I remember there was discussion of the industry contracting heavily in the 2000s due to the pirate streams.

AshenOne said:
As a HUGE lover of anime, asian novels and anime games I surely wouldn't want sony to conquer the games part since then I wouldn't be able to play my favourite anime games and stuff. Already sick of this exclusivity BS in gaming. Bandai, KOEI Techmo are doing a decent job at it.
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But Sony is investing in it lol. Other companies can invest in anime. Netflix has for example. It's a huge business.
 
salromano

salromano

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Oct 25, 2017
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Should note that Aniplex already announced a Demon Slayer game for PS4 developed by CyberConnect2. Teaser trailer:



I wonder who will publish it in the west. And what other games they have in store.
 
entremet

entremet

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PS Exclusive anime characters in the next Season of Tekken 7 lol?
 
Mars People

Mars People

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Oct 25, 2017
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It would be nice to see better quality licenced anime games.
Most are at best...lacking.
 
Arubedo

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AshenOne said:
Oh the investment part iam fine with, i just don't want exclusivity in anime games like how it is in the non anime games in the rest of the world that are made for non-mobile platforms.
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For Demon Slayer, i fear that the game gonna be exclusive to PS4 since it's produced by Aniplex, concerning the other series i don't know.
 

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entremet said:
Anime sure has made a huge turnaround in the streaming era. I remember there was discussion of the industry contracting heavily in the 2000s due to the pirate streams.



But Sony is investing in it lol. Other companies can invest in anime. Netflix has for example. It's a huge business.
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HBO Max has been slowly compiling anime from Crunchyroll as well. I imagine we will see originals soon from them as well.
 
Oregano

Oregano

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salromano said:
Should note that Aniplex already announced a Demon Slayer game for PS4 developed by CyberConnect2. Teaser trailer:



I wonder who will publish it in the west. And what other games they have in store.
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Aren't they also publishing the Fate cooking game on Switch, and some PC Visual Novels?
 
stryke

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Oct 28, 2017
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One day I hope to see an anime game that isn't Dragon Ball be propelled far beyond being another arena fighter/musou that Bandai Namco or KT shit out every year
 

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Mars People said:
That's going to be really shitty when most of the world can't access HBO.
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It hasn't been in an exclusive capacity yet. For example, I'm watching FMAB. That anime is accessible on Netflix and probably many other places. There's Some other anime like that on there as well. But there's not a lot of anime yet. Maybe 20 shows. They have more hunter hunter dubs than Netflix tho


EDIT: they just added inuyasha (also on Netflix) and tower of god (that's nowhere else IIRC as far as dubs)
 
lightning16

lightning16

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May 17, 2019
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dobahking91 said:
So SIE will develop anime games as in first-party games?
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Honestly, I read the article and it doesn't really seem all that relevant to SIE. This seems like it's about Aniplex a lot more than anything else.

Maybe it's still too early for me, but I'm not really sure what conclusion is to be drawn from this article, but it doesn't really seem to be all that relevant to what Sony's video game publishing relates to as most people on this forum care about it.
 
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Nightengale

Nightengale

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Oct 26, 2017
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So the interesting thing in this article is that the Sony Group re-organization which was intended to push more corporate-driven synergy will be one of the first test, given that Sony wants to push anime to be the 4th pillar of their business.

What Aniplex/etc has been doing so far is still very much "old Sony" - in that there's no synergy between the anime side and the gaming side, but if corporate Sony decides to go ahead with anime as a greater focus, there is a possibility that corporate pressure will extend to SIE for the first time ever.
 
Yuntu

Yuntu

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They own Aniplex (I think?) so I thought this was always part of their business in a good size.
 
RestEerie

RestEerie

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Sony invest in something like a regular business

"That's anti-consumer!!!"

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
tokkun

tokkun

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Oct 27, 2017
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I wonder if this will affect the Japanese business model of making a series popular on TV, then switching to theatrical release movies to make profit. I think if the goal was to grow the audience as much as possible you would probably want to keep it as a TV series, since that is more accessible.
 
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