Newest addition to industry giant’s stock portfolio
Chinese holding company Tencent has announced that it has purchased British developer Sumo Group. The mind-melting $1.3 billion (USD) sale sees Sumo Group join Tencent’s bulging portfolio of global video game developers and publishers.
Originally founded in 2003, Sumo Group was born out of the closing of French developer Infogrames. Purchased by Foundation 9 Entertainment in 2008, Sumo would eventually go public as Sumo Group plc in 2017. While Tencent already had a stake in Sumo Group, this new deal will give the former full ownership of all of Sumo Group’s subsidiaries, including Sumo Digital, (and its five respective UK studios), Atomhawk, Pipeworks Studios, and in-house publisher Secret Mode.
“Tencent is pleased to have been an investor in Sumo since 2019, and we view the proposed combination as an evolution of our partnership,” said Tencent CSO James Mitchell. “Tencent is a committed investor in the game industry, with a track record of supporting the growth of game studios around the world.”
“We hold Sumo’s team and the games they produce in high regard, and its strategy and spirit of innovation have underpinned the success of the business over many years. Tencent intends to bring its expertise and resources to accelerate the growth of Sumo both in the UK and abroad, supporting Sumo in the market for top-tier creative talent, and the UK as a hub for game innovation.”
Sumo Group joins Tencent’s increasingly long list of studios with which the conglomerate holds minority or majority stakes. Tencent’s portfolio includes full ownership of Riot Games, Funcom, Leyou, and Sharkmob; majority stakes in Supercell, Klei Entertainment, Yager Development, and Grinding Gear Games; and stakes of varying sizes in Activision-Blizzard, Ubisoft, Dontnod Entertainment, Remedy Entertainment, Bohemia Interactive, Marvelous, and Epic Games.
Tencent to buy developer Sumo in $1.3 billion deal [GamesIndustry.biz]
