Since Tencent began in 1998, the Chinese technology company has quickly grown into one of the larger multinational conglomerate holding companies in the world of gaming. One of the ways it has grown is by acquiring developers, and Tencent is at it again.
Among many purchases, Tencent is behind the biggest acquisition in gaming history; SuperCell (the team behind Clash of Clans). That purchase went for $8 billion, even more than the recent Microsoft purchase of Zenimax (Bethesda Studios). This newest purchase is a bit smaller but still important.
According to an official forum post, Klei Entertainment has agreed to a deal for Tencent to become the majority owner of the independent game developer. Klei Entertainment is the team behind Mark of the Ninja, Invisible Inc., Hot Lava, and the beloved survival game Don't Starve, among others.
The good news for fans is that Klei Entertainment will still retain full autonomy over its games, the creative aspects of the company, future projects, talent acquisition, and more, according to the co-founder of the development team. The only thing that changes for the team is on the financial side. The decision was made by Klei Entertainment because, over the years, the developer has wanted to creatively make decisions that financially perhaps it was unable to. But with the financial backing of Tencent, a company that just purchased the Warframe and the Gears Tactics developer, it can now focus on making those games.
For Klei Entertainment, Tencent also seemed like a solid fit for multiple reasons. One, the developer worked with Tencent before for when the China servers launched for Don't Starve. Familiarity is key with big decisions such as these. And two, the founder of Klei Entertainment felt that Tencent would allow the team to still have the freedom that is needed. Creating some of the best indie games is not an easy task, so it would not be a pleasant experience to have Tencent butt heads after an acquisition like this, for example. Klei Entertainment believes that Tencent will allow the team to still make the creative decisions it needs to make the best games possible.
If Klei Entertainment wants to make games like Don't Starve moving forward, it may need a bit of help financially. Many believe that it is getting harder to develop video games in an industry where countless small/indie style games fall through the cracks and a few AAA experiences rise to the top. The backing of a huge conglomerate like Tencent could help the developer now and in the future.
Source: KleiEntertainment