With a heated boardroom drama unfolding between Kadokawa and its largest shareholder, FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki has finally broken his silence regarding the studio's development environment.

The spark for this corporate bonfire? A manifesto from Hong Kong-based activist hedge fund, Oasis Management. Having aggressively gobbled up Kadokawa shares since March—dethroning Sony to become the top shareholder with a 13.76% stake—Oasis didn't mince words in May. They blamed the current brass for Kadokawa's sluggish performance and urged shareholders to vote against President Takeshi Natsuno at the June 24 annual meeting. Kadokawa’s board, however, officially pushed back on May 14, throwing their weight behind the incumbent president.

Oasis specifically shone a spotlight on FromSoftware, framing it as the company's crown jewel while crying foul over 'lost profits.' Their gripe? The studio's reliance on third-party publishers who, in exchange for sharing the risk, walk away with a hefty slice of the revenue pie. Oasis argues that with fresh capital from the likes of Sony and Tencent, Kadokawa has more than enough firepower to pivot to self-publishing full-time.

Kadokawa fired back on May 28, noting that the decision to self-publish isn't just about ego; it’s a delicate balancing act of IP profitability, risk assessment, and contractual obligations. It’s not as simple as flipping a switch. For context, FromSoftware handles its own distribution for the 'Dark Souls' series, Elden Ring, and 'Armored Core 6' domestically, but relies on Bandai Namco for the global heavy lifting. Similarly, Sony holds the keys to 'Bloodborne,' and Activision managed the international rollout for 'Sekiro.' Kadokawa did, however, hint in its March annual report that expanding self-publishing is on the table.

Amidst this noise, FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki spoke to Japanese gaming outlet Denfaminicogamer. While acknowledging the situation, Miyazaki was measured: "I am aware of the situation, but as there are many parties involved, it is difficult for me to comment on the matter." He added, "Personally, I am quite satisfied with the current development environment at FromSoftware, as it allows us to create the games we want without excessive interference." He concluded, "Moving forward, I believe the most important thing is to maintain this environment and keep our focus squarely on game production."

It's worth noting that Oasis Management doesn't exactly have the best track record with the gaming faithful. Back in 2013-2014, when Nintendo was struggling, Oasis infamously pushed for a mobile pivot. A document obtained by the Wall Street Journal even suggested, 'Imagine if you had to pay 99 cents to make Mario jump higher.' Nintendo rightfully ignored the suggestion, and the industry widely mocked it as a fundamental misunderstanding of gaming. Though, to be fair, Nintendo later found massive mobile success with titles like 'Pokémon GO' via external partners.