Californian game developer Turtle Rock Studios is now part of Tencent, as announced today by the companies in a joint press release. The studio will continue to be based in Lake Forest, California, and Turtle Rock Studios co-founders Phil Robb and Chris Ashton will still be running operations in an independent fashion. Additionally, this acquisition (whose financial terms were not disclosed) doesn’t affect in any way Back 4 Blood, which is published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
Steve Goldstein, president and general manager of Turtle Rock Studios, said:
Eddie Chan, chief strategy officer of Tencent Games Global, added:
Turtle Rock Studios shared the following message regarding the acquisition on its website, hinting heavily at plans to make Back 4 Blood a franchise.
Turtle Rock Studios is also known for its work on Evolve, Left 4 Dead 1&2, and Counter-Strike: Source, in addition to a number of Virtual Reality projects published by Oculus Studios. Five years ago, the game developer had announced a cooperative dark fantasy first-person shooter made in partnership with Perfect World Entertainment. However, this project was quietly canceled ahead of Back 4 Blood.
As for Tencent, here’s a list of notable gaming companies the Chinese giant has invested in. Tencent is also attempting to acquire Sumo Digital for $1.27 billion. That deal appears to be nearing its completion following an investigation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, with Sumo Digital confident that everything should be ready by next month.
