Another day, another acquisition rumor from Microsoft. This time it is the turn of Dying Light developer Techland, with speculation this weekend that he was absorbed by the green machine of Xbox boss Phil Spencer. To be fair, it is not the first time that we heard this rumor in the past year – probably because it is one of the few major independent developers that has not yet been swallowed.
As such, locating a source in the story this time around is not easy. As far as we can tell, the last round of reports comes from a podcast called Defining Duke, in which one of the hosts hinted that Microsoft is looking for another developer or publisher to bolster its software offering for 2021. While the presenter has not written, the host of a different Xbox Podcast – we hope you’re following – posted at Twitter that they are “almost sure” that it is Techland. We know – eyeroll emoji and all that.
Doubtful sources aside, the story has gained enough breath to persuade a comment from the Polish studio’s community manager. He said: “Techland is an independent studio and was not acquired by another publisher.”
Of course, it did little to contain speculation. Many pointed out that even if a purchase occurs behind the scenes, the developer will not be able to comment until the ink is dry. We assume that stranger things have happened – Bethesda, for example – but the way this story happened gives us pause; until more concrete evidence emerges, all this is pure rumor for the time being.