{"id":50819,"date":"2025-08-07T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=50819"},"modified":"2025-08-08T09:45:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T00:45:35","slug":"sonys-anime-business-is-in-its-early-playstation-stage-executive-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-anime-business-is-in-its-early-playstation-stage-executive-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony\u2019s anime business is in its \u201cearly PlayStation stage,\u201d executive says\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Set on making anime a \u201ccornerstone\u201d of its entertainment business<\/a> alongside video games and music, Sony has been significantly expanding its anime production and distribution capabilities over the past few years. While the current scale of the group\u2019s anime-related businesses is by no means small, they consider themselves to be in a \u201ctake-off\u201d phase. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sony\u2019s CSO Toshimoto Mitomo, in charge of global IP development, recently told Toyo Keizai<\/a> that Sony\u2019s anime business can most closely be compared to the PlayStation\u2019s PS1-era. \u201cIt\u2019s in a phase roughly equivalent to the period between the launch of the PS1 and PS2.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PlayStation saw immediate success with the launch of the PS1 three decades ago, but the console\u2019s popularity and commercial performance soared in the following years, with annual revenue multiplying from $2 billion to $30 billion<\/a> between the PS1 and PS5 eras. Mitomo seems to be implying that Sony\u2019s anime business is currently in an early but explosive growth phase, with further expansion yet to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not to say that Sony doesn\u2019t already have big hits and an extensive global distribution network in place. Last month, the group\u2019s anime production company Aniplex released Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba The Movie: Infinity Castle in Japan, which has since made roughly $120m in the box-office, becoming the tenth highest-grossing film in the country\u2019s history. Sony also owns Crunchyroll, one of the biggest anime streaming platforms in the US. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the group intends to further expand its influence and reach within the anime scene, and it has been making assertive moves to this end. In January, Sony became a major shareholder of Kadokawa<\/a> after acquiring a 10% stake for roughly $340 million. Through the capital alliance, Sony gained access not only to Kadokawa-owned anime studios (like Doga Kobo) but to the publisher\u2019s numerous original IPs (such as manga and light novels, the most common source material of anime). In turn, Kadokawa announced that it would be leveraging Sony\u2019s backing to further increase its yearly output<\/a> of new original publications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, in July, Sony announced that it would be acquiring a 2.5% stake in Bandai Namco Holdings<\/a> for approximately $464 million. The two companies entered a strategic business partnership with the aim of deepening their ties in the entertainment industry, particularly anime IP expansion. Through these multi-million-dollar deals, Sony seems intent on building an anime empire comparable to the scale of the PlayStation brand. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sony Group’s Chief Strategy Officer likens the current stage of Sony’s anime business to the early momentum of the PS1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":50821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,65],"tags":[73,17],"class_list":["post-50819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-nongaming-news","tag-anime","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nSony\u2019s anime business is in its \u201cearly PlayStation stage,\u201d executive says\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sony Group's Chief Strategy Officer likens the current stage of Sony's anime business to the early momentum of the PS1.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-anime-business-is-in-its-early-playstation-stage-executive-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sony\u2019s anime business is in its \u201cearly PlayStation stage,\u201d executive says\u00a0 - 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