Elden Ring’s success is not hidden from anyone out there. The game is FromSoftware’s latest souls title and instantly hits the right chord with many gamers around the world. It looks like FromSoftware and Bandai Namco know exactly what to offer gamers. This unique twist on open-world games as well as the soulslike genre did pretty much everything right.
For those unaware, Elden Ring is published by Namco Bandai. They are known as the long-time publishing partner of FromSoftware. In fact, the first Dark Souls title was also published by Bandai Namco. But unlike Dark Souls IP, it looks like Bandai Namco does not own Elden Ring anymore!
Bandai Namco hands over Elden Ring’s ownership to FromSoftware
FromSoftware is more or less an independent developer. Ever since Hidetaka Miyazaki went on to direct games for this developer, they have only made successful titles. From Dark Souls to Elden Ring, none of their games have had a bad review, nor have they flopped.
Being an independent developer means they have to look around every now and then to find publishers. Primarily, Bandai Namco has served as a publisher for most of its games. Likes of Activision and Sony too have taken that mantel for games like Sekiro and Bloodborne. But mostly, it has been Bandai Namco.
In these publishing deals, though, the ownership of most IPs has also remained with their publishers. Activision owns Sekiro, while Sony and Bandai Namco own Bloodborne and Dark Souls, respectively. But now that FromSoftware has grown exponentially over the years, it is no surprise that they have decided to get some better publishing deals.
It looks like Elden Ring was the first of such deals. After nearly two years of its launch, the IP has shifted its owner from Bandai Namco to FromSoftware. Why did it happen after two years? No one knows as of yet; maybe they had some earnings deal where the ownership shifts from Bandai Namco to FromSoftware once the game sells a particular number of units.
Whatever it might be, FromSoftware now owns Elden Ring. This means they can do anything they wish with this IP. And they have big plans, it appears. Bandai Namco and FromSoft have discussed Elden Ring IP in numerous ways.
Some suggest that this shift came after bigwigs like Sony and Tencent increased their investment in the developer through its owner, Kadokawa. This increase in investment might make FromSoftware a self-sufficient developer as well as a publisher. Let’s see how they utilize this newfound freedom.
After all, the Elden Ring is a massive IP to hold on to. The game sold around 20 million copies within a year of its launch. They have a huge responsibility to maintain this success now.
Is this the reason for the delay of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree?
This shift was no doubt a dramatic one. But this might even be the reason for FromSoftware not even talking about this game’s DLC as of now. It looks like they were holding on to it for the time being, at least till the time this shift goes through.
And it could not have happened at a better time; February 25 would be Elden Ring’s second anniversary. There are chances that FromSoftware will have something to show its fans then.
