Klei Entertainment, the developers of the indie hits Don’t Starve and Oxygen Not Included, announced today that they have agreed that Tencent, the media conglomerate that bought quite a lot, will buy a majority stake in the company. Klei’s founders say they will maintain “full autonomy of creation and operations in all aspects of the studio.”
Klei made the announcement today in a post explaining why they chose Tencent and what I think the partnership will help them achieve.
“We have looked at many different companies and, over the years, we have worked with a large number of publishers and distributors. Tencent is the only company we felt would allow us to maintain the level of control we require.
“We have been working with Tencent for years and even at points where we did not agree, they were always willing to work with us to find the best solution for everyone involved and to postpone when we felt strong. ”
Klei also mentions that the Chinese company Tencent helped them launch Don’t Starve Together in China in 2016 and they have witnessed other Chinese launches since then, noting that Chinese players make up a large part of their players. “We do not expect significant operational changes for China or anywhere else in the world, but we expect this partnership to help us better support our Chinese players,” they say.
It’s a similar statement – about maintaining creative control – to that of Splash Damage and Digital Extremes when their parent company Leyou was acquired by Tencent at the end of December.
Over the years, Tencent has acquired games such as Riot Games, Funcom, Splash Damage and Digital Extremes, buying stakes of various sizes in Epic Games, Ubisoft, Frontier Developments, Activision Blizzard, Paradox Interactive, Grinding Gear Games and many more.
It may not be inherently bad, but strengthening the gaming industry continues to be something we should all be careful about.