Tencent, the giant technology conglomerate, has been on a buying streak for the last few years, and the latest gaming studio to fall under its wing wasBack 4 Blooddeveloper Turtle Rock Studios. Since its inception in 2003, the gaming division has been steadily growing and with the success ofHonor of Kingsbacking it up, it started acquiring strategic partnerships and stakes in many studios around the world. By now, the company is bigger than EA, Nintendo, and many other giants in the industry.
With the acquisition ofBack 4 Bloodcreator Turtle Rock Studios,Tencenthas taken another step towards becoming a true media behemoth. The company seems particularly interested in multiplayer and co-op experiences, and some of the partners it works with have produced massive hits with that focus. Although 2021 has been a year with record acquisitions, the company was already huge to begin with, having stakes in studios and companies like Riot Games, Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, Supercell, Dontnod Entertainment, Bloober, and more. This list for 2021 will specifically count studios where Tencent is a majority holder, as its investments in general are many.
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Klei Entertainment
Back in January 2021, Klei Entertainment was acquired by Tencent. While the studio is mostly known forthe fan-belovedDon’t Starveseries, it is one of the most prolific indie studios for having created a surprising amount of titles in its almost 15 years of existence. Among its most well-known games areMark of the Ninja,Invisible Inc., theEetsseries,Hot Lava, andGriftlands.
When the acquisition occurred, the press release claimed Klei would retain its independence and control of its IPs. Tencent’s aim with this acquisition is to help the company get into the highly competitive Chinese market.
Yager Development
Although Tencent had shares in Yager previously, in June 2021 itbecame the majority shareholder of the German studio. Yager is best-known forSpec-Ops: The Line, a subversive game that sort of transformsApocalypse NoworHeart of Darknessinto a deep, complex videogame that was widely considered a masterpiece.
Their most recent project is calledThe Cycle, and it is a multiplayer shooter in early access since 2019, currently a PC exclusive. They only have two other published games: A combat flight simulator calledYager, and another title calledDreadnought. The first one was an Xbox console exclusive, while the second was a PlayStation 4 exclusive that also released on PC.
Sumo Digital
Tencent acquired yet another giant in July 2021 when it became the sole owner ofUK-based AAA developer Sumo Digital. Founded in 2003, this company has not only developed its own games, but also helped port titles and acquired other smaller developers such as The Chinese Room (Dear Esther, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs).
Sumo Digital’s most well-known titles includeCrackdown 3, Hood: Outlaws & Legends,LittleBigPlanet 3andTeam Sonic Racing, among many more on a myriad of platforms. One interesting detail is that, between its work inCrackdown 3for the Xbox One andLittleBigPlanet 3for the PS4, Sumo Digital has developed high-profile exclusive games for both Sony and Microsoft. While their next project still needs to be announced, several sources claim it is going to be a triple-A game.
Stunlock Studios
Tencent acquired Stunlock Studios shortly after Sumo Digital. Stunlock is the Swedish studio best known for the free-to-playBattleritegames, available exclusively on PC, and a smash-hit on Steam when it was released back in 2017. Thestudio’s next project is calledV Rising, but as of now does not have a confirmed release date. Besides these titles, Stunlock Studios had also developedDead Island: Epidemic,Bloodline: Champions, andProject 0, among others.
Wake Up Interactive
Wake Up Interactive is a holding company solely owned by Tencent,which was acquired back in November. It has two studios, Soleil and Valhalla Game Studios: Its most well-known game is the Switch F2P multiplayer titleNinjala, which mixes cute artwork similar toSplatoonwith third-person combat inspired by ninjutsu and martial arts.
Wake Up Interactive’s next project seems to build off of theNinjalaexperience, but attempts to give it a darker, more serious aesthetic. Project Edo, announced after being acquired by Tencent, is going to be a multiplayer ninja action game for undisclosed platforms and a release date to be confirmed.
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Fatshark Games
Fatshark is a studio based in Stockholm, Sweden, and mostly worked as a subcontractor for several AAA titles for PC and consoles. Tencent acquired majority control of the studio in November 2021, which earned it a 36% ownership stake. Some of the games developed there includetheWarhammer: Vermintideseries,Escape Dead Island,andWar of the Roses, among others.
Fatshark’s next project,Warhammer 40,000: Darktide,was announced during The Game Awards 2020, and it will be a first-person shooter set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It will come out for PC and Xbox Series X some time in 2022.
Turtle Rock Studios
Tencent’s latest acquisition was Turtle Rock Studios. This is the team that createdLeft 4 DeadandEvolve, before releasingBack 4 Bloodthis year. Withthis recent acquisition, the gaming giant shows its interest in asymmetric multiplayer, a genre with a lot of room for growth. Although the percentage of the stake is not public as of yet, Turtle Rock Studios will now be officially considered part of the Tencent family.
The bit of interesting information that was made public is that Turtle Rock Studios will keep its own licenses. This is interesting, as the studio was part of Valve up until 2010, when it regained its independence and started working inEvolve, but lost the rights to theLeft 4 Deadgames in the process.
