Tencent have reportedly acquired the parent company to both Soleil and Valhalla Game Studios; the developers of Ninjala and Devil’s Third.
As reported by Bloomberg, according to “people familiar with the deal” which has not yet been made public, Tencent are set to acquire a 90% stake in Wake Up Interactive for over $44 million USD in September of this year. Bloomberg also note this is unusual behavior for Tencent, typically preferring smaller investments to secure international publishing rights on future titles.
Wake Up Interactive, a Hong Kong based holding company with an office in Tokyo, are the parent company to Soleil and Valhalla Game Studios.
Soleil are best known for developing Ninjala, Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time, and Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker; along with providing development support for Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes.Their upcoming titles include Vengeance is Mine and Wanted: Dead in 2022. Valhalla Game Studios meanwhile are best known for Devil’s Third.
Bloomberg describes how this is the latest in plans by both Tencent and Netease to acquire multiple smaller Japanese studios, along with larger companys’ IPs so they may be less dependent on the increasingly restrictive Chinese market.
Tencent’s portfolio includes 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 major shareholder for Marvelous, a minority stake in Dontnod Entertainment, and will soon acquire 1C Entertainment.
A German outlet reported from their sources that Tencent sought to acquire Crytek; which may also give them access to the western military simulators the developer makes. In August, Tencent lost almost $60 billion USD in stock value; after Chinese state media’s Economic Information Daily described online games as “spiritual opium.”
While Tencent had announced they acquired Sumo Digital’s parent company, a US national security committee is deciding if that will go ahead.
