Sony has ruled itself out as one of the companies interested in acquiring Warner Bros after it essentially put itself up for sale.
Last week, Warner Bros revealed it has “initiated a review of strategic alternatives to maximise shareholder value”. The quote came after rumours of bids for the firm. From a video games perspective, a successful takeover from Sony would hand it the keys to franchises like Mortal Kombat, Batman: Arkham, Hogwarts Legacy, and more.
Sony says it is not interested in an acquisition, however. Speaking to Nikkei, Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki said: “Right now, we don’t want to do a big Hollywood M&A deal. We want to build a solid base in our strengths of anime and games.”
Totoki focuses his thoughts on the animated movie and TV business as he considers what an acquisition of Warner Bros would look like, commenting that Sony is looking at “growth markets” rather than sheer profitability. “The global market for anime is just dawning right now and will continue to grow by double digits for a while.”
Aniplex, a Sony subsidiary, produces some of the biggest anime releases of the modern era, like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle. Its push into the thriving anime sector has also seen Sony acquire stakes in Kadokawa and Bandai Namco. There had been rumours earlier in the year that Sony had been seeking Warner Bros’ gaming IPs, but this appears not to be the case.
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