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 was Back 4 Blood developer Turtle Rock Studios. Since its inception in 2003, the gaming division has been steadily growing and with the success of Honor of Kings backing 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 of Back 4 Blood creator Turtle Rock Studios, Tencent has 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.
Klei Entertainment
Back in January 2021, Klei Entertainment was acquired by Tencent. While the studio is mostly known for the fan-beloved Don't Starve series, 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 are Mark of the Ninja, Invisible Inc., the Eets series, Hot Lava, and Griftlands.
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 it became the majority shareholder of the German studio. Yager is best-known for Spec-Ops: The Line, a subversive game that sort of transforms Apocalypse Now or Heart of Darkness into a deep, complex videogame that was widely considered a masterpiece.
Their most recent project is called The 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 called Yager, and another title called Dreadnought. 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 of UK-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 include Crackdown 3, Hood: Outlaws & Legends, LittleBigPlanet 3 and Team Sonic Racing, among many more on a myriad of platforms. One interesting detail is that, between its work in Crackdown 3 for the Xbox One and LittleBigPlanet 3 for 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-play Battlerite games, available exclusively on PC, and a smash-hit on Steam when it was released back in 2017. The studio's next project is called V Rising, but as of now does not have a confirmed release date. Besides these titles, Stunlock Studios had also developed Dead Island: Epidemic, Bloodline: Champions, and Project 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 title Ninjala, which mixes cute artwork similar to Splatoon with third-person combat inspired by ninjutsu and martial arts.
Wake Up Interactive's next project seems to build off of the Ninjala experience, 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.
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 include the Warhammer: Vermintide series, Escape Dead Island, and War 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 created Left 4 Dead and Evolve, before releasing Back 4 Blood this year. With this 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 in Evolve, but lost the rights to the Left 4 Dead games in the process.