Another day, another Microsoft acquisition rumor. This time it was the turn of the developer Techland Dying Light, with abundant speculations this weekend that it was absorbed by the green car of the Xbox boss Phil Spencer. To be honest, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard this rumor in the last year – probably because it’s one of the few major independent developers left that hasn’t been swallowed yet.
As such, fixing a source on the story this time is not at all easy. As far as we can tell, the latest round of reports comes from a podcast called Defining Duke, in which one of the hosts suggested that Microsoft is on the market for another developer or publisher to consolidate its software offering for 2021. In time what the presenter did not elaborate, the host of a different Xbox podcast – hopefully keep up – posted on Twitter that they are “pretty sure” of Techland. We know – eyeroll emoji and all that.
Apart from the shaky sources, the story gathered enough ability to convince a comment from the Polish studio’s community manager. He said: “Techland is an independent studio and was not purchased by another publisher.”
Of course, little has been done to stop speculation. Many have pointed out that even if a behind-the-scenes purchase is made, the developer could not comment on this until the ink is dry. We assume that stranger things have happened – Bethesda, one – but the way this story came about gives us pause; until more concrete evidence emerges, all this is simply heard.