Tencent is to acquire British video game studio Sumo for $1.27 billion
In a bustling year for gaming mergers, another arrangement has quite recently been reported. Tencent is to completely gain Sumo Group, the UK developer behind LittleBigPlanet 3 and Crackdown 3. The Chinese web monster is offering 513 pence per share for the studio, in which it as of now possesses a 8.75 percent stake, esteeming it at $1.26 billion (£990 million).
The obtaining brings another significant developer into the Tencent overlay. Effectively the world’s greatest gaming organization, Tencent claims League of Legends studio Riot Games, and has a monetary stake in a few distributers including Epic Games, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, Bluehole, Paradox Interactive, Supercell, Grinding Gear Games and Yager, alongside visit stage Discord. In February, the organization gained a minority position in DayZ engineer Bohemia Interactive.
However, Tencent’s dominance has set off administrative pushback at home and abroad. Recently, Chinese authorities blocked its plan to combine its two game livestreaming sites, Douyu and Huya. Tencent is additionally negiotiating a concurrence with a US public safety board that would permit it to hold its stakes in US organizations Riot Games and Epic Games, as indicated by numerous reports.
The Sumo acquisition hands Tencent a blend of AAA and indie content. Close by LittleBigPlanet 3 and side project Sackboy, both distributed by Sony, Sumo was additionally behind Hitman 2. It likewise claims UK-based non mainstream engineer The Chinese Room (Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture) and Red Kite Games, most popular for ports of games like Two Point Hospital. In February, the studio bought Poland’s PixelAnt Games for £250,000.
“The business will benefit from Tencent’s broad videogaming ecosystem, proven industry expertise and its strategic resources, which will help secure and further the aspirations and long-term success of Sumo,” Ian Livingstone, non-executive chairman of Sumo, said in a statement.
Between Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax and EA’s arrangement for Codemasters, 2021 is as of now ending up being a blockbuster year for video game consolidation. Other hot deals include Epic Games procurement of Fall Guys studio Mediatonic, Sony’s acquisition of Returnal designer Housmarque and Facebook’s takeover of BigBox VR through its Oculus arm.
