Web3 company Gaudiy, now the new owner of MyAnimeList following the transfer of the previous shareholders’ shares, has announced a “strategic partnership in the fields of entertainment and technology” with Sony Group Corporation and Bandai Namco Holdings.
Sony and Bandai Namco also jointly invested 10 billion yen (~US$69.49 million) into Gaudiy.
“Each company in this partnership is devoted to the global development of Japanese IP and the creation of new experiences and ecosystems which leverage their technologies and strengths,” said Gaudiy.
It also said that “Through this strategic partnership, these three companies aim to create a new ecosystem in the entertainment industry by combining their strengths and assets to offer newer and more fun next-generation entertainment experiences to IP fans around the world.”
This eye on IP and fans is a reason behind the acquisition of MyAnimeList, with Gaudiy making note of its “19.5 million registered users, 99% of whom are non-Japanese,” and seeing it as a means of “strengthening Gaudiy’s connection to global fans.”
MyAnimeList is of interest to Bandai Namco as well, who sees an opportunity to “connect MyAnimeList, a very influential community of non-Japanese fans of Japanese anime and manga, with Bandai Namco’s IP axis strategy and build wider, broad, deep connections with IP fans around the world” through the partnership.
The announcement also listed five themes that are tied to the collaboration. One of these is “Global,” with Gaudiy saying that “combining initiatives by Crunchyroll, a subsidiary of Sony, MyAnimeList, a subsidiary of Gaudiy, and for IP-related products and services offered worldwide by” Bandai Namco will “accelerate the global expansion of Japanese IPs.”
“Blockchain” and “Generative AI” are another two of the themes. For the former, Gaudiy wants to use Sony’s Soneium public blockchain and its own “empirical research on tokenomics design and knowledge of auction design” to have a system “where creators can be paid an equitable price.”
For the latter, Gaudiy says that it and Bandai Namco “aim to create new entertainment experiences by propelling the research development and application of Generative AI,” and cites Bandai Namco’s use of Generative AI for the Gunpla Digirama Maker.
The other themes are “IP Creation and Nurturing Next-Generation Creators” and “Data Usage and Applications.” On the latter, Gaudiy said that by “combining the data assets each company has, they can deepen the practical uses of the data in the entertainment field.”
It continued, “Fan data tends to be divided into parts, so by mutually collaborating and combining the data, its analyses and use cases will be strengthened in order to offer even more moving and personalized entertainment experiences.”
Source: Gaudiy Medium post (via @myanimelist)
