Tencent, the China-based mega-corps that is deeply invested in big companies like Riot Games and Epic Games, has taken a majority stake in a much smaller company. This company is the Canadian game developer Clay Entertainment.
The news comes through a forum post by Jamie Cheng, founder of Clay. He said the partnership “helps us navigate a changing industry and helps us focus on what we want to do best: create unique experiences that no one else can.”
Cheng explained that Clay retains full autonomy of creativity and operations in all aspects of the studio as part of the agreement. ‘
Tencent and Clay’s relationship dates back to 2016, when the conglomerate started publishing Clay games in China Do not starve Together and more recently, Do not spell: Newhome.
In 2020, Tencent came under pressure from the US government over its ownership of the messaging app WeChat. There was a brief moment that the government was planning to announce an “investment ban” on the company, along with other Chinese companies such as Alibaba and Baidu.
When the Trump administration began to twist, Reuters reported that the ban had been scrapped.