Tencent grabs majority stake in Battlerite and V Rising developer Stunlock Studios

Tencent has acquired a majority stake in Battlerite developer Stunlock Studios for an undisclosed fee.

The news comes a day after the Chinese company agreed to purchase Sumo Group, the owner of Sackboy: A Big Adventure developer Sumo Digital and other studios, for $1.27 billion. 

Based in Sweden, Stunlock previously worked with Tencent to bring its top-down arena brawler Battlerite to China back in 2016, with that collaboration prompting Tencent to acquire a minority stake in the company in 2019. 

Commenting on the "new, deepened partnership" between the two companies, Stunlock explained the majority investment will allow it to continue creating games independently while making use of "strategic support" from Tencent. 

Following the deal, Stunlock will continue working on Battlerite, which has amassed over 6.5 million unique players since launch, while also developing its new vampire survival game, V Rising. 

"Tencent’s new investment shows a great deal of trust in us delivering quality titles with our focus on gameplay first," said Stunlock chief exec Rickard Frisegard. "It will give us the opportunity to realize our grand vision for V Rising, our current game in development, and help us in future ventures, expanding long-term as a studio."