The world’s leader in video games, Tencent, seems really insatiable. In fact, the Chinese holding company decided to end the year by announcing the acquisition of Turtle Rock Studios. The size of the deal was not disclosed.
A buyout with no immediate consequences for the studio
In a statement, Tencent said the studio won’t see any immediate changes:
Turtle Rock will continue to operate independently from Lake Forest, California in the United States. The current team will continue to run all of the studio operations, led by co-founders Phil Robb and Chris Ashton. The takeover has no effect on Back 4 blood.
Available on Game Pass as of the day it was released, the newest California studio should not be affected by this redemption. If this acquisition is not a trivial one, it is just one of many investments the Chinese giant made this year.
Rapid takeovers and omnipresence in the industry
According to analyst Daniel Ahmed, Tencent would have made more than a hundred investments or acquisitions of companies in the video game sector in 2021. Every three days it comes down to an investment. Note that around 30% of these transactions involve non-Chinese companies. The Chinese holding seems determined to increase its buybacks and thus significantly increase its means of production.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of Tencent’s assets:
- 100% de Riot games (League of Legends, Valorants)
- 100% by Sharkmob (Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt)
- 95.11% of Funcom (Conan exiles)
- 84% super cell (Clash of the Clans)
- 80% of the grinding gears games (Way of exile)
- 48% d’epic game (Fortnite, Unreal Engine)
- 36% by Fatshark (Warhammer: Vermintide)
- 25% of Dontnod (Tell me why)
- 22% the Bloober team (The medium )
- 13.5% cocoa (Black Desert Online)
- 11.5% of Bluehole (PUBG)
- 9% de Frontier developments (Elite Dangerous, Planet Zoo)
- 6.86% Kadokawa (from software)
- 5% d’Activision Blizzard
- 5% paradox
- 5% from Ubisoft
- 3.8% from Remedy Entertainment (Control, quantum fraction)
- Majority shareholders of Klei Entertainment (Not to starve)
The recent acquisition of Sumo Group (Sack Boy, Hood: Outlaws and Legends) is currently being validated by the US authorities. The Chinese giant has also made numerous investments, the amount and number of shares acquired has not been disclosed. The beneficiaries of these investments include Bohemia Interactives (ARMA, DayZ), Platinum games (Bayonetta, Nier: Automata) and Yager.
Despite strong pressure from the Chinese authorities on the video game industry, Tencent appears determined to continue its run for acquisitions.
