A PlayStation executive has shot down Sony FromSoftware acquisition speculations that stemmed from an innocent tweet that she published over the weekend. Director and global head of third-party portfolio, Shawne Benson, posted a photo of herself posing with an Elden Ring statue at work that quickly escalated into fans assuming that she was teasing a FromSoftware acquisition. It also spurred a frantic ResetEra thread that was promptly deleted, with Benson having to calm her followers down.
There’s no truth to rumors of Sony FromSoftware acquisition
Although rumored for a while, claims that Sony is eyeing FromSoftware have largely come from social media and Reddit wish lists. No known insiders or reliable leakers have ever heard rumblings about the companies joining forces. The closest we’ve heard is Sony entering into a capital alliance with Kadokawa, which happens to be FromSoftware’s parent company. But that’s all it is – a capital alliance between two Japanese companies.
Just showing my new work bestie around campus. pic.twitter.com/rv03rij3ae
— Shawne Benson (@shawnethegirl) April 22, 2022
To put this to bed…I’m just a huge fan of the game. It was my first day back in the office and I saw the statue near my coworker’s desk. Nothing more! As a reminder, my remit is on third party CONTENT acquisitions. Not studios. That’s a totally different team!
— Shawne Benson (@shawnethegirl) April 22, 2022
While Benson did her part to put the discourse to rest, a quick look at her replies suggest that some die-hard fans remain convinced that there’s something going on between Sony and FromSoftware. It doesn’t help that Sony has confirmed we’ll hear more on the acquisition front this year, with journalists hearing reports of “big” plans.
In other news, Ubisoft’s leaked Project Q has officially been confirmed, and Spider-Man PS1 dev has said that he wouldn’t mind working on a remake.