Sony Music Japan to acquire 23.29% stake in Puzzle & Dragons developer GungHo Online Entertainment
| Date | Type | Companies Involved | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3, 2026 | acquisition | GungHo Online Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment | $182m |
- SME is paying ¥28.64bn ($182.5m) for a 23.29% stake.
- The alliance could also involve Sony Music Entertainment IP.
- GungHo will remain an independent publicly listed company.
Sony Music Entertainment Japan (SME) is set to acquire a 23.29% stake in Puzzle & Dragons developer GungHo Online Entertainment as part of a new capital and business alliance between the companies.
As reported by Gematsu, SME will purchase 12,006,500 GungHo shares from major shareholder SON Financial through an off-market bilateral transaction for ¥28.64 billion ($182.5 million), or ¥2,385 per share.
The transaction is expected to close on December 30th 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
Following the deal, SME will become GungHo's largest shareholder and an affiliated company, while Sony Group Corporation will also qualify as an affiliated company.
New projects
The companies plan to explore joint development and operation of smartphone, console and PC games distributed by GungHo, as well as promotional collaborations around GungHo's games.
They will also explore new game projects that could make use of intellectual property from SME and its subsidiaries and affiliates. SME previously launched its UNTIES game publishing label in 2017.
GungHo is best known for multi-billion dollar smash hit Puzzle & Dragons and also operates the Japanese server for Ragnarok Online. The company has worked on games including TEPPEN, Ninjala and Disney Pixel RPG.
Despite the deal, it was claimed that GungHo will maintain its management independence as a publicly listed company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market.
Sony Music Japan has previously published mobile games through its Aniplex division, including another multi-billion dollar hit mobile game, Fate/Grand Order.
Companies
