Splash Damage, the studio behind Gears Tactics, has broken off of Tencent after being acquired in 2020.
The UK-based company has quite the track record with titles, from Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory to the aforementioned Gears Tactics. Splash Damage worked with Microsoft on a number of titles, like Halo: The Master Chief Collection and multiplayer for Gears 4 and 5. It was purchased by Leyou in 2016, which was then acquired by Tencent in 2020. Unfortunately, the studio hadn’t had much luck during the merger, cancelling multiple games, including Transformers: Rectivate. Fortunately, its luck is starting to come back.
Splash Damage Leaves Tencent, Funded by Private Investors
In a report from Gameindustry, Splash Damage announced that it would be breaking away from Tencent. Instead, it would be funded by private-equity investors. Furthermore, the leadership team of the original studio will remain the same. No other information was given about the break, as the studio wouldn’t comment on the situation further.
Studios breaking away from publishers isn’t anything new in the gaming industry. Recently, Still Wakes The Deep studio The Chinese Room left Sumo Digital to go independent. Still, Tencent owns a lot of various companies, including a part of Ubisoft. Splash Damage’s break from the Chinese publisher is one fans of the studio can be glad about. Seeing as the merger hurt the studio’s internals, as layoffs loomed over them, this is sure to be a nice change of pace.
Are you happy about Splash Damage leaving Tencent? Have you played any of its games? Let us know in the comments below and on the forums!
For more on Tencent, check out our articles on its ongoing lawsuit over Horizon: Zero Dawn and interest in Nexon. Don’t forget to subscribe to our weekly newsletter!
