After a massive year of acquisitions and investments in 2020, Chinese internet company Tencent has bought another prominent game studio.
It was confirmed on Friday that Tencent Clay, the developers of Shank and Don’t Starve, had acquired. Clay confirmed the buyout in a post on its forums.
“I want to take a moment to announce that we have agreed that Tencent will acquire a majority stake in Clay Entertainment,” the studio said. “As part of this agreement, Clay retains full autonomy of creativity and operations in all aspects of the studio, including projects, talent and more.”
As for the changes, founder Jamie Cheng said he would continue to run the studio and that there would be no change in staff, projects and operations, although there would be a “boring accounting change”.
Cheng said he accepts the buyout so he and his team do not have to worry about finding new projects and publishers to let the light burn.
“My wish was to enable people to do their best creative work, learn and grow, not have to worry about finances and enjoy their lives outside the studio. It has not changed,” he said. he said. “This partnership helps us move through a changing industry, and helps us focus on what we do best: create unique experiences that no one else can.”
Clay and Tencent have actually been working together since Tencent teamed up with the studio to launch Don’t Starve Together in China on Tencent’s WeGame platform. Clay and Tencent are also collaborating on Don’t Starve: Newhome for mobile devices.
Cheng said Clay is happy to sign with Tencent because the company will enable the studio to “maintain the level of control we demand.”
“We have been working with Tencent for years, and even at points where we do not agree, they were always willing to work with us to find the best solution for everyone involved and to postpone us if we felt strong. has, “Cheng said.
A report by Niko Partners showed that in 2020, Tencent made 31 transactions related to investments in the gaming industry, which is three times as much as in 2019. The largest transaction was the $ 1.5 billion buyout of Leyou, the parent company of Warframe developer Digital Extremes.
Some of Tencent’s other moves in 2020 were to invest in the Japanese studio Platinum Games, but not to buy straight. Tencent also acquired Conan developer Funcom and bought the GTFO studio 10 Chambers.
Tencent now owns or invests in a large number of gaming businesses. It owns Riot (League of Legends), Grinding Gear Games (Path of Exile) and Supercell (Clash of Clans), while Tencent also owns a piece of Fortnite studio Epic Games. Tencent also has minority investments in Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard and Bluehole.