Dying Light developer Techland today flew the Tencent flag, announcing that Chinese gaming conglomerate Tencent will soon become the company's largest shareholder. [Techland CEO Pawel Marchewka said, "Today we are pleased to announce our partnership with Tencent, which is in the process of becoming Techland's majority shareholder. Partnering with Tencent will allow us to move full speed ahead with the execution of our gaming vision. We have chosen an ally that has already partnered with some of the world's leading video game companies and helped them reach new heights while respecting their ways."

Marcevka described Tencent as "a like-minded friend and a strong partner who shares the same vision and passion and is willing to back it up with knowledge, experience and capabilities." The purpose of the acquisition is to ensure that the open-world ARPG being developed by Techland "meets the expectations of the first new IP in almost a decade."

"We will retain full ownership of the IP, maintain our creative freedom, and continue to operate the way we believe is right," Marchewka said. He will also stay on as CEO of Techland.

We have said this before, but it is worth repeating for emphasis: Tencent has invested (or wholly owns) in Riot Games, Epic, Grinding Gear, Supercell, Jaeger, Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, Fatshark, Turtle Rock, Remedy, Clay It is a huge player in the global gaming industry, investing in (or wholly owning) such companies as But, at least publicly, Techland seems to be taking a largely hands-off approach to all of them, and assuming this pattern continues, it means that fans of Techland and its work need not worry too much about a sudden and unexpected change of direction.

Tencent is one of China's largest high-tech companies, but until 2022, it suffered a substantial downturn due to a combination of the country's crackdown on the high-tech industry, strict covid19 regulations, and an overall economic slowdown. New investments in studios in Europe and the United States can be seen as a signal that Tencent is at least getting back on track and starting to act.

Techland declined to comment further on the details of the deal.