Chinese mega-corporation Tencent is taking over video games. Tencent already wholly owns League of Legends developer Riot Games, and has big stakes in companies like Epic, Supercell, Ubisoft, Paradox and Frontier. Last year, they acquired a 29% stake in Secret World and Conan Exiles developer Funcom. Now, they’re buying the rest of it. Tencent announced a voluntary cash offer on the remaining Funcom stock.
“We have had a great relationship with Tencent as our largest shareholder so far and we are excited about this opportunity,” says Funcom CEO Rui Casais. “We will continue to develop great games that people all over the world will play, and we believe that the support of Tencent will take Funcom to the next level. Tencent will provide Funcom with operational leverage and insights from its vast knowledge as the leading company in the game space.”
There will be no changes to the management structure or staffing, with the company set to remain an independent company—just one owned by the largest gaming corporation on the planet. The company will continue to support games like Conan Exiles, Secret World Legends, Age of Conan, and Anarchy Online.
Says Steven Ma, Senior Vice President of Tencent:
“We are impressed by Funcom’s strengths as a developer of open-world multiplayer, action and survival games. Funcom has a strong track-record in developing new titles with long life span. We are glad to deepen our relationship with Funcom and look forward to collaborating with Funcom to deliver more exciting and enjoyable game experiences to fans worldwide.”
If there’s one property that Funcom’s sitting on that extra Tencent money might help, it’s their impending open-world multiplayer survival game based on Frank Herbert’s Dune. While I love the Dune universe and want more games based on it, I’m not sure a multiplayer survival game is for me.
Last Updated: January 22, 2020
Kromas
January 22, 2020 at 10:51
Naspers owns like 40% of tencent. So it technically is part South African 😛
Pariah
January 22, 2020 at 11:03
31%. But still its largest shareholder.
Raptor Rants
January 22, 2020 at 11:15
I guess that’s putting in your… 10 cents worth.
G8crasha
January 22, 2020 at 10:34
I’ve buried over 400 hours into Conan Exiles. I don’t know why it doesn’t get much love! Admittedly, I played it for the flexibility it provides in creating sprawling buildings!
Original Heretic
January 22, 2020 at 10:44
It’s fun, but damn it’s a grinding time sink!
G8crasha
January 22, 2020 at 12:01
Hence the reason I played it as a PvE, rather the PvP. I used the admin panel to spawn in everything I needed.
Dresden
January 22, 2020 at 11:33
I play it for the slave strippers. ?
G8crasha
January 22, 2020 at 12:01
I have created sprawling cities with the game, and thoroughly enjoyed it. There was no limit to what I could make. And with the recent DLC allowing you to build treehouses, a whole other dimension has been created for me!
Dresden
January 22, 2020 at 12:07
The tree houses are awesome!
Hammersteyn
January 23, 2020 at 15:37
still need to try it