It is hard to pay attention to the world of gaming and not hear of Tencent. The Chinese super conglomerate has its fingers in the pies of almost everything related to gaming. The company owns varying percentages of multiple developers and publishers. The list includes such names as Activision, Ubisoft, Supercell, Epic Games, Riot Games, PlatinumGames, Bohemia Interactive, Dontnod Entertainment, Klei Entertainment, and Funcom. A new report today has shed light on the fact that the developer of Control, Remedy Entertainment, has also been added to Tencent’s list.
As reported today by GamesIndustry.biz, Tencent was sold 500,000 shares of stock in Remedy by a holding company called Accendo Capital. The numbers shake out so that Tencent owns less than 4% of the company, far from a majority stake. Accendo Capital still owns 1.8 million shares of Remedy, totaling to about 14%. Now usually when Tencent is interested in a company, it can cause fans to worry. Remedy’s CEO Tero Virtala has tried to alleviate some of these fears.
He says that, while Remedy was unaware of this sale until after it happened, it will not affect them that much. Remedy said in a brief statement that this is “simply a capital markets transaction and is not connected to any commercial activity taking place within the studio.” Translated from PR speak, it means that fans shouldn’t worry about the development of any future games. Remedy is still steering the ship.
Remedy attracts big attention
This news comes a few months after it was reported that Remedy had one of its most successful years ever. In 2020, revenues for the company went up 30% to €41.1 million EUR , or $50.3 million USD. This is even more impressive considering that Remedy did not release a new game last year. It instead focused on making new content for Control and releasing new versions on new platforms.
It is very easy to see why Tencent would be interested in Remedy. It is impressive for a developer to make that kind of money without releasing a new title. Control has now sold over two million copies worldwide as well. We aren’t sure what is coming next from Remedy. But as long as it is able to keep creative control and continue to express a creative vision, everyone will benefit. That includes both players and shareholders alike.
