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Tencent acquires Back 4 Blood developer Turtle Rock

Despite the acquisition, Turtle Rock will continue to operate independently with current leadership at the head of the studio's operations.

Alissa McAloon, Publisher

December 17, 2021

1 Min Read

Turtle Rock Studios has joined Tencent thanks to the Chinese tech giant's recent acquisition of Turtle Rock parent company Slamfire Inc.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed in the press release announcing the acquisition. However Tencent noted that Turtle Rock itself will operate independently despite the buy, and that the studio's recent release Back 4 Blood won't be impacted by the deal.

Likewise, Turtle Rock Studios co-founders Phil Robb and Chris Ashton will continue to lead the studio's existing team moving forward.

In a statement, studio president and GM Steve Goldstein added that joining Tencent stands to give Turtle Rock Studios additional resources to back up the studio's future ambitions.

"We are all looking forward to joining the Tencent family of studios," said Goldstein. "Tencent’s outstanding partners, global reach, deep knowledge of gaming and unprecedented support will help us create the kinds of ambitious games we dream of, while allowing us to retain our autonomy and independent spirit."

With this, Turtle Rock now joins the ever-growing list of video game studios that Tencent either owns or has a stake in. Tencent has, just within the last few months, picked up a minority stake both in Yooka-Laylee developer Mediatonic and From Software parent company Kadokawa, and reportedly spent $44 million to purchase Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes developer Wake Up Interactive.

About the Author

Alissa McAloon

Publisher, GameDeveloper.com

As the Publisher of Game Developer, Alissa McAloon brings a decade of experience in the video game industry and media. When not working in the world of B2B game journalism, Alissa enjoys spending her time in the worlds of immersive sandbox games or dabbling in the occasional TTRPG.

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