MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Splash Damage, the developer behind the likes of Brink, Quake Wars and Gears of Wars 4’s multiplayer has been bought by Chinese poultry firm Leyou Technologies.
The UK studio, owned by founder and CEO Paul Wedgwood, is being bought for a sum ‘not in any event to exceed $150m’.
This is the second purchase the Chinese company has made in the video games space, following Leyou’s acquisition of Warframe developer Digital Extremes. It bought 58 per cent of that studio in July 2015, and another 39 per cent in May of this year.
And why is a poultry company looking to get in on the video games scene? In a statement from the firm about its purchase of Splash Damage, the firm says that its new presence in the games space: enabled Leyou to diversify its business and mitigate the volatile and cyclical nature of the poultry business”
Probably best that no-one mentions that video games is a volatile and cyclical business, too.
Splash Damage is not the only UK games firm to be picked up by a Chinese company. Earlier this year, RuneScape firm Jagex was bought by Chinese mining company Shandong Honda for $300m.
Meanwhile, Chinese media giant Tencent continues to purchase stakes – or flat out buy – Western games companies. In the last twelve months, the firm has bought League of Legends maker Riot Games and Supercell, the studio behind Clash of Clans.
It also bought a five per cent stake in Cities Skylines developer Paradox Interactive, and owns 14.5 per cent of Glu Mobile.
