Oasis Management, the Hong Kong-based activist fund now holding 13.76% of Kadokawa shares and the company's largest stakeholder, is pressing for FromSoftware to self-publish overseas and cut Bandai Namco out of the loop on future titles like Elden Ring sequels. Their 130-plus page "A Better Kadokawa" pitch claims Kadokawa cedes too much profit to external partners on global sales, with roughly 90% of Elden Ring moving through Bandai Namco. Kadokawa owns 70% of FromSoftware, which handles its own publishing in Japan but relies on Bandai Namco for most international distribution.

The push comes ahead of Kadokawa's June AGM, where Oasis wants shareholders to vote against reappointing CEO Takeshi Natsuno over broader governance gripes and what it calls missed value on FromSoftware's IP. Oasis has been lobbying on this for years, according to its own documents, arguing self-publishing would let Kadokawa capture more of the massive overseas revenue. Bandai Namco and FromSoftware co-developed Elden Ring, which sold over 12 million units early on with Bandai Namco handling the bulk of the Western push.

FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki has pushed back publicly, telling fans the studio will keep making the games it wants regardless of shareholder noise, while Kadokawa has stated its policies aren't dictated by any single investor. The drama is classic corporate theater—activists chasing margins, devs protecting creative control, and the real risk that forcing self-publishing could complicate the partnerships that helped Elden Ring reach its scale. Receipts don't lie, but neither do distribution deals that actually move copies.