Update – 15:07pm – As noted in a statement from Kadokawa, CEO Takaheshi Natsuno will continue serving as CEO.
Original article – 10:07 – A growing clash between investors is taking shape at the company that oversees FromSoftware, where Elden Ring is at the center of debate about whether the CEO should keep his post.
The disagreement is expected to become clear today at Kadokawa’s yearly investor gathering, where the business will review its past investments and plans for what’s next. The opposing camps are led by current CEO Takeshi Natsuno and the Hong Kong-based activist investment firm Oasis Management.
Oasis Management has been steadily increasing its holdings in Kadokawa stock and, most recently, bought up 13.76 percent. That move makes it Kadokawa’s largest shareholder, giving the group significant leverage.
Oasis argues that “profit leakage” has occurred at Kadokawa in the wake of Elden Ring’s massive success. Since the game was created by FromSoftware in Japan and handled for overseas distribution by Bandai Namco, Oasis says this setup has contributed to the shrinking of profits. From its perspective, although the title exceeded 30 million sales last year and won game of the year honors, it also reflects a chance for even more earnings that never materialized.
While Oasis is driving the conversation, it isn’t working alone. The claim is backed by multiple investors. For example, Institutional Shareholder Services commented: “Even if it takes time to identify a successor for Natsuno, the task is one that merits undertaking.”
From the other side of the argument, the CEO and his supporters maintain that removing him would trigger instability. Last year, he received 90 percent support at the annual investor meeting, and the company’s board has said that replacing him while the firm is still carrying out major reforms would only make matters more complicated.
Still, the need for those reforms is exactly what strengthens Oasis’ point. Kadokawa has struggled in recent reporting, with a 0.5 percent return on equity in 2025—far below the 9.4 percent return it recorded in 2022, the year Elden Ring launched. It also suffered a data breach in 2024 and is being investigated over claims about conditions for freelance workers.
Even if Natsuno keeps the CEO role, the increased pressure from Oasis and other stakeholders could push Kadokawa to put more money into major, high-budget projects like Elden Ring. However, as the broader industry has shown, expanding in that direction is difficult given rising consumer costs, higher development expenses, and the knock-on effect these factors can have on gamers’ purchasing power.