It's well known that Tencent has been acquiring shares in a broad range of game publishers and developers, increasing its investments and influence in the industry. While a lot of those moves have been public, Bloomberg is reporting that Tencent quietly acquired 90% of Japanese company Wake Up Interactive group in September, paying around 5 billion yen ($44 million).
The name may not be too familiar, but the group owns Soleil Ltd, which has developed some very decent games in recent years - including on Switch. It's worked with the Naruto franchise on other systems, while on Switch it's brought us Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time and Ninjala. It has two projects in the works right now - Wanted: Dead and Vengeance is Mine - but they're both on PC and new/next-gen hardware (PS5 and Xbox Series X|S).
Tencent will also get Valhalla Game Studios in the deal; though its shifted its focus away from development in more recent times, some will remember the company's first project - Devil's Third on Wii U. It was an exclusive at the time, though it had a second life as Devil's Third Online on PC.
We suspect Soleil Ltd is the big prize of the acquisition, as Tencent continues to expand its scope in different territories.
[source bloomberg.com]
Comments 25
Just waiting for them to buy Disney now. Then the singularity shall be complete.
Devil’s Third 2 except it’s built on the blockchain
Yay, more companies devoured by Tencent. It's not like they don't already have enough of the industry in their pocket.
Welp, time to uninstall Ninjala...
The future has been ruined.
Ah. Another added to the list.
Not hatin'. But in all of the Tencent acquisitions none of it had shown results. Dead zero. Nada.
I’m shocked Valhalla is still viable.
Some people love parroting "Tencent Bad!" without saying why Tencent is bad. And I'm having a hard time telling valid criticism from sinophobia.
@CharlieGirl
It's a combination of beliefs that Tencent is partially run by the Chinese government alongside some shady or unethical business practices that I have yet to hear people elaborate more about. Bottom line, people don't want the gaming industry controlled by the Chinese government, because they dislike China's overall way of life. As racist and sinophobic as that sounds, it's the reality. I've never really paid much attention to this myself because the larger corporations are standing their ground and don't need acquisitions to give them money.
Ninjala coming to other platforms?
Well... At least Samurai Jack doesn't have the Tencent logo on the last game.
At least for now...
@Zyph for the end user yes for them boy have to they some power their hand.
Look at the supply chain that should give you a idea how control can be enforced.
@CharlieGirl ummm I guess check the news? Its in the public...
@Scrubicius That still doesn't explain anything.
@ModdedInkling Under a communist government, all businesses are owned by the government. China has made steps towards privatization in the wake of Deng Xiaoping's reforms, but Xi Jinping has been cracking down on the private industry in recent years, to the point of arresting high-profile business owners for "corruption."
I personally believe that what Xi Jinping is doing is wrong, and I say that as a socialist (not a communist, as the two are mutually exclusive; socialism is the idea that the general public, not the government, own the businesses, especially the ones they work for).
But at the same time, I do not believe that larger companies should be gobbling up smaller companies, because it stifles competition, and creates monopolies. That is also wrong, and anti-consumer to boot.
Ohh noooo... not another one... not again... ☹
@CharlieGirl maybe if you looked it up you can find out the reasons. It's not sinophobia, it's China's government we're worried about(which has ties to tencent.).
If I had ten cents for everytime TenCent bought another company..
Yep…. This is what happens when people keep buying Tencent stuff thinking it doesn’t matter. Just keep feeding the monster.
I mean, what could go wrong…. Studios closing down after being bought, just like EA? Nooooo… neeeever.
Who could guess why it's been kept quiet? 🤔
The racist fake news mongering here is amazing. All businesses are owned by the government? That's total BS. Tencent is a listed company in Hong Kong. Its largest shareholder is actually a South African company. Many of our pension funds have invested in Tencent. And why would you be worried about the China government? It's a pretty good government that keeps to itself and doesn't export wars and terrorism overseas. It doesn't send ships to the coast of Hawaii. It doesn't have colonies overseas. If you've been to China, you will see that it's a pretty decent place, and fun too. I suggest you go, make new friends there, and stop spreading hate online to further your warped world view. Peace.
Well guess I won't be playing Ninjala
@CharlieGirl @Arkay thank you... it seems very common that people comments and judges on subject that they are not aware of.
@GiantDrake "they have different opinions therefore they MUST be racist!"
How many social credit points did your spiel get you?
God, had they not already lined their pockets with unite?
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