Tencent are reportedly interested in acquiring Crytek; which may also give them access to the western military simulators the developer makes.
BILD reports (translation: Google Translate), that according to “several people familiar with the matter,” the “secret mega-deal” would see Tencent acquiring Crytek. While the developer is most famous for FarCry and Crysis.
However, Crytek also uses their CryEngine for war simulation programs for the US Army and German Armed Forces and their training, along with numerous arms companies to simulate their weapons. BILD theorizes that China could “rehearse the war against Taiwan and the West more realistically than ever before.”
BILD also note that Tencent have purchased high-tech processors “for the purpose of the technology takeover and is also currently on a shopping spree in Europe.”
Tencent are reportedly willing to spend hundreds of millions to acquire Crytek, and made via a European subsidiary. BILD report “many of the 350 [Crytek] employees do not want to be owned by the Chinese, fearful of becoming a pawn for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).” BILD journalist Julian Röpcke confirmed these were Crytek employees in his Twitter thread summarizing the article.
While Tencent is a private and independent company- and lost $20 billion USD in 2018 thanks to the Chinese Ministry of Education recommended less video game approvals- BILD state they have a “close relationship” with the CCP, based on their research.
The Chinese government’s strict laws force most people to obey through schemes such as social credit, along with major organizations. BILD note Tencent Beijing hosted an event by the CCP as early as 2016, entitled “Entry into Tencent to acquire the wisdom of building a party.”
“According to our investigation,” Röpcke notes, “Tencent – claiming to be an independent company – is highly pro-CCP and already in 2017 promised to the Chinese leadership that it will raise its party member share sharply from 23% at this time – especially in leading company positions.”
Tencent’s portfolio also includes becoming the major shareholder for Marvelous in January 2020, 100% ownership of Riot Games, 80% of Grinding Gear Games, 40% in Epic Games, 29% in Funcom, 5% in Activision Blizzard, 5% in Ubisoft, 5% in Paradox Interactive, a “major investment” in PlatinumGames, a majority stake in Klei Entertainment, a minority stake in Dontnod Entertainment, and others.
Tencent were also reportedly negotiating with a US national security panel to keep their investments in US companies Epic Games and Riot Games.
Image: Crysis 3 via Steam
