Tencent set to purchase majority stake in Dying Light studio Techland

rockpapershotgun.com:

Media conglomerate Tencent are throwing more money at game studios as part of their never-ending shopping spree. Today the studio behind zombie-smasher Dying Light, Techland, announced that Tencent will become the developer’s majority shareholder.

“Whenever I think about the future of Techland, I want the best for our games, the team, and you,” said Techland’s CEO Paweł Marchewka in today’s blog post. “And while I am very proud of our achievements as an independent studio over all these years, I believe the best is yet to come.”

Marchewka continued to say that “teaming up with Tencent” would allow the team to “move full speed ahead” with future plans for the Dying Light series and their in-development fantasy RPG. Marchewka emphasised that the studio will retain “full ownership” of their intellectual property and “maintain creative freedom.” Marchewka will also continue to serve as Techland’s CEO.

Techland was founded in 1991, but the studio’s breakout hit came with survival horror Dead Island and its follow-up Dead Island: Riptide. After a short stint working on the gunslinging Call Of Juarez games, the studio returned to their zombie roots with Dying Light and last year’s Dying Light 2: Stay Human.

Tencent, on the other hand, have their fingers plugged into countless gaming pies. Imogen Beckhelling (RPS in peace) rounded up all the game companies that Tencent owned a slice of two years ago, which included Sumo Digital, Don’t Nod Entertainment, Epic Games, Platinum Games, and so much more. The company haven’t slowed down since then, though. Tencent more recently acquired Back 4 Blood’s developers and bought a majority stake in the studio behind Rime.