After Vicarious Visions merges with Blizzard, Chinese video game giant Tencent has now been announced – known for titles such as League of Legends and Clan fighting – will acquire a “majority stake” in Klei Entertainment.
If you’re not familiar with this Canadian developer, this is the studio behind games like this Do not starve and Ninja brand. Klei Entertainment founder Jaime “Bigfoot” Cheng says Klei will maintain “full autonomy of creation and operations in all aspects of the studio, including projects, talent and more.”
In a frequently asked question on Klei’s website, Cheng explained that there will be no immediate changes in the future to “staff, projects or other operations.” As for the reason behind this decision, it will allow the studio to “not worry about finances”, do “the best creative work” and navigate a changing industry.
“There are some tedious accounting changes that we will have to adjust to. In addition, I will continue to run the studio as before, without changes in staff, projects or other operations.”
“Klei has been around for 15 years and I have made many changes over the years to respond to a changing world. Consistently, my desire has been to enable people to do their best creative work, learn and grow, you don’t have to worry about finances and you can enjoy their life outside the studio. That hasn’t changed. “
“This partnership helps us navigate a changing industry and helps us focus on what we do best: creating unique experiences that no one else can.”
According to a report by Niko Partners through GamesIndustry.biz, Tencent invested in 31 transactions related to the gaming industry last year – a new record for the company. These were a “mixture of acquisitions, mergers, minor and major stakes and rounds of financing”.
Some of these offers included a minor stake in PlatinumGames and a stake in the Japanese publisher Marvelous. With the start of 2021, who knows what else Tencent could gain in the coming months.