In early 2022, rumors were already circulating that Tencent would be interested in buying Techland. Now it’s here, the confirmation of the takeover. The Chinese corporate giant swallows a large part of the Polish studio.
Most of you should know Studio Techland from the two offshoots of Dying Light. But the portfolio of the second largest studio in Poland (after CD Projekt Red) also includes titles such as the first parts of Dead Island and Call of Juarez.
>> Top 10 Zombie Games: Undead But Happy <<
Up to now, the games company has preferred to look for larger sales partners such as Ubisoft or Koch Media, or PLAION. But that is now over, because the rumors from the beginning of 2022 have come true: The Chinese giant Tencent will take over Techland.
Despite taking over the lion’s share of Techland’s shares, they don’t want to impose any restrictions on the creative minds. As usual, it is promised that the developers will be able to retain control of the in-house brands and, accordingly, their creative freedom.
Techland CEO Pawl Marchewka said, “Working with Tencent allows us to flat out execute the vision for our games. We have chosen a partner who has worked with some of the world’s best video game companies, helping them reach new heights while respecting their way of doing things.”
Another big step for Tencent. The Giga Group runs its own label Level Infinite, and the company is also the largest shareholder in, for example, Riot Games, Supercell and Digital Extremes. Tencent also holds other shares in Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, Frontier, Paradox and Ubisoft. In 2021, Tencent also took over all shares in the Berlin studio Yager. So while Microsoft still has to fight hard to acquire Acitivision Blizzard, the Chinese competitor’s shopping spree continues happily.
Techland has just released its new game, Dying Light 2: Stay Human. We take this as an opportunity to take a close look at the Polish studio and why they can be called the zombie experts in gaming.
