After the merger of Vicarious Visions with Blizzard, the Chinese video game giant Tencent – known for titles like League of Legends and clash of clans – will acquire a “majority stake” in Klei Entertainment.
If you’re not familiar with this Canadian developer, it’s the studio behind games like Do not starve and ninja brand. Klei Entertainment founder Jaime ‘Bigfoot’ Cheng says Klei will maintain “complete autonomy of creation and operations in all aspects of the studio, including projects, talents and more”.
In a FAQ on the Klei website, Cheng explained that there would be no immediate changes in the future for “personnel, projects or other operations”. As for the reason behind this decision, it will allow the studio to “not have to worry about finances”, do its “best creative work” and navigate a changing industry.
“There are some boring accounting changes that we will need to adjust to. Other than that, I will continue to run the studio as before, without changes to the team, projects or other operations.”
“Klei has been around for 15 years and we’ve made many changes over the years to respond to a changing world. Consistently, my desire has been to allow people to do their best creative work, learn and grow, so they don’t have to worry about finances and being able to enjoy life outside the studio. That hasn’t changed. “
“This partnership helps us to navigate an ever-changing industry and helps us focus on what we do best: creating unique experiences that no one else can do.”
According to a report by Niko Partners via GamesIndustry.biz, Tencent invested in 31 games-related businesses last year – a new record for the company. It was a “mix of acquisitions, mergers, smaller and larger stakes and rounds of financing”.
Some of these deals included a minor stake in PlatinumGames and a stake in Japanese publisher Marvelous. With 2021 just beginning, who knows what else Tencent might acquire in the coming months.