Epic Games Sells Chunk of Itself to China

Karloff

New member
Oct 19, 2009
6,474
0
0
Epic Games Sells Chunk of Itself to China

A Chinese internet company has bought a minority stake in the developer behind Gears of War.



Epic Games, of Gears of War fame, has sold a portion of itself to a major Chinese internet company. This is the first time ever that Epic has opened itself up to an outside buyer. The buyer, Tencent, is a company that Epic has worked with for many years but the actual amount that changed hands remains unknown, as does the size of Tencent's minority holding of Epic.

Mike Capps is enthusiastic for the deal, saying that "Tencent's investment will empower Epic to help us do even more of what we do best, which is making great games and game technology. Its expertise in the global online gaming market is second-to-none, and the opportunity to work with it to bring richer experiences to players all over the world is irresistible."

The key part of that statement is "players all over the world" - but especially in China. Tencent is a major Hong Kong company, owner and operator of the QQ web portal, and it has the largest single internet gaming presence in China. It also has a minority stake in Riot Games, developer of League of Legends, and is no doubt looking forward to making a fortune from the ever-growing Chinese gamer market.

It's clearly a match made in heaven. "Epic's deep commitment to quality across all of its games and technologies inspires us,"said Tencent's Senior Executive VP David Wallerstein. He went on to say that "we have a lot that we can learn from each other, and we look forward to supporting the Epic team as they embark on their next phase of gaming innovation across both emerging and familiar platforms."

The deal will conclude over the next month, on terms as yet undisclosed.

Sources: Epic Games [http://gamasutra.com/view/news/172605/Epic_Games_sells_a_part_of_itself_to_Chinese_online_giant_Tencent.php]


Permalink
 

Mahorfeus

New member
Feb 21, 2011
996
0
0
Tencent? Isn't that the same company people keep whining that Riot Games "sold out" to?

I'm not entirely sure what to think about this, but Epic sounds pretty optimistic about it.
 

Baldr

The Noble
Jan 6, 2010
1,739
0
0
Mahorfeus said:
Tencent? Isn't that the same company people keep whining that Riot Games "sold out" to?

I'm not entirely sure what to think about this, but Epic sounds pretty optimistic about it.
Yes, they sold majority stake in Riot for $400 million, but got to keep independent control of the studio. Wonder how much Epic got for this minority chunk.
 

Nurb

Cynical bastard
Dec 9, 2008
3,078
0
0
Soon games will be made for kids... BY kids!

Just like toys are today.
 

scotth266

Wait when did I get a sub
Jan 10, 2009
5,202
0
0
Baldr said:
Mahorfeus said:
Tencent? Isn't that the same company people keep whining that Riot Games "sold out" to?

I'm not entirely sure what to think about this, but Epic sounds pretty optimistic about it.
Yes, they sold majority stake in Riot for $400 million, but got to keep independent control of the studio. Wonder how much Epic got for this minority chunk.
Except the story here says that they only got a minority stake of Riot. So either you're wrong or the story is wrong.

EDIT: The story appears to be wrong.
 

marurder

New member
Jul 26, 2009
586
0
0
It should be noted that every company that comes in contact with Tencent (both Chinese and foreign) ends up being burnt in some way.
 

ResonanceSD

Guild Warrior
Legacy
Dec 14, 2009
4,538
5
43
Country
Australia
Polock said:
Anyone else scared about China in the future? Anyone?

Nope, fallout dictates that they lose the war anyway.


OT: Should we now expect absolutely no creativity from Epic ever again and for them to start cranking out crappy knockoffs of other franchises?
 

ScruffyMcBalls

New member
Apr 16, 2012
332
0
0
ResonanceSD said:
Polock said:
Anyone else scared about China in the future? Anyone?

Nope, fallout dictates that they lose the war anyway.


OT: Should we now expect absolutely no creativity from Epic ever again and for them to start cranking out crappy knockoffs of other franchises?
Sorry to have to break it to you, but Epic completely gave up on creativity when they started work on Gears of War: Judgement.