Chinese media conglomerate Tencent has bought Leyou, a name that may not mean much to you, but you know some of their subsidiaries: Warframe developers Digital Extremes and Dirty Bomb developers Splash Damage. Both studios have made statements saying hey, don’t worry, this will be fine.
“We will remain creatively independent, we do not expect changes to Warframe or how our studio works, and we will always remain committed to you, the community, who have been with us every step of the way since we launched Warframe,” Digital Extremes said in their statement .
“Our acquisition allows Splash Damage to operate as an independent entity within the Tencent family, while leveraging their expertise to enable us to build even better games as we enter our third decade,” Splash Damage said in theirs. .
Leyou started, strangely enough, as part of the Chinese chicken meat company Sumpo Food Holdings, which was looking to diversify their business. In 2014 they bought a majority stake in Digital Extremes and then almost the rest in 2016, and in 2016 they also bought Splash Damage. Now Tencent has acquired Leyou by adding them to a stable of studios with Riot Games and Funcom, as well as stakes in Epic Games, Ubisoft, Frontier Developments, Activision Blizzard, Paradox Interactive, Grinding Gear Games and more.
The consolidation of the games industry continues.
Disclosure: I have friends at Splash Damage. Friend? Maybe just buddy now.