Tencent has announced it will be purchasing Sumo in a heading.27 billion dollar sale, which includes fourteen different studios within the company. This is just another major move that Tencent has made in gaming, joining dozens of other investments and purchases.
Ian Livingstone, a non-executive chairman for Sumo said he “firmly believes the business will benefit from Tencent’s broad video gaming eco-system, proven industry expertise and its strategic resources.”
He’s absolutely right when it comes to Tencent’s “broad video gaming eco-system” too. The company has ties and investments in several major players in the video game industry, including Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard. And Sumo already knows how to do good work for major studios too, like Xbox with Crackdown 3.
This deal should help both companies achieve their goals. Tencent will now have several studios to develop original games or continue outside contracting work for studios. Either way, it helps Sumo with funding and resources while also giving Tencent a proven group of studios.
According to Reuters, “Tencent owns 8.75% of Sumo” and is also their “second-biggest shareholder.” Tencent was clearly satisfied with the return on their current investment in Sumo and felt they were worth purchasing outright.
Sumo started in 2004 and has worked on dozens of games in the years since. A lot of the company’s work has been in assisting with the development of a game or porting games, like the Xbox version of Outrun 2. Sumo’s work has always been good though, even if it was typically in addition to another studio’s, but the developer has also shown what they’re capable of all on their own too.
Sony Interactive Entertainment published Sackboy: A Big Adventure but the money and resources were all thrown at Sumo Digital. And it was a capable game that a lot of people enjoyed. Zubi said it was “fun for both newcomers and veterans alike” in our review of it.
It’ll be interesting to see what Sumo is able to do with all cash and resources from Tencent, especially if they keep working with companies like PlayStation.
