Shareholders for Kadokawa Group, the parent company of Elden Ring developer FromSoftware, looked to oust the CEO, accusing Kadokawa Group's Takeshi Natsuno of failing to capitalise on the success of the 2022 RPG. However, following a throw down at the company's latest AGM, Natsuno has retained his position.
As per a Reuters report, Natsuno faced multiple challengers at the annual general meeting. Oasis Management, a company based in Hong Kong, was the leader in all the leadership challenges. Holding a 13.76% stake in the company, they've got some serious skin in the game, and pointed out that under Natsuno Kadokawa's return on equity dropped from 9.4% in 2022 to 0.5% in 2025. Moreover, there are also accusations of profit leakages, as Kadokawa allows Bandai Namco to handle overseas publishing of FromSoftware games.
Oasis isn't alone in its criticism of Natsuno. Institutional Shareholder Services also said in a report that "while it may take time to find a replacement for Natsuno, this is a challenge worth accepting."
FromSoftware has often been left to manage its own projects and teams, and this has led to continued success for the company. Following Elden Ring, it released the expansion Shadow of the Erdtree, as well as the multiplayer spin-off Elden Ring: Nightreign. A movie from A24 is also scheduled to be released in 2028, and so without forcing FromSoftware to just churn out sequels from 2022, it is difficult to think of how else the success of Elden Ring can be capitalised on. It appears that Kadokawa, at least for now, has agreed with the sentiment, as in a new statement it confirms Natsuno has remained in his position.
