Tencent acquires majority stake in developer Supercell

Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent has taken a majority stake of Supercell, developer of Clash of Clans and Clash Royale.

Tencent has previously held a 50 percent stake in the company but moved to acquire another 1.2 percent, giving it a majority stake. The new shares cost the tech giant $40 million (£30.8 million).

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Tencent first became a stakeholder in Supercell back in 2016 when – as part of Luxembourg-based consortium Halti S.A – it was part of an 81.4 percent acquisition. The deal was valued at $10.2 billion (£7.87 billion). 

Supercell, which is based out of Helsinki, Finland, is best known for developing Clash of Clans and Clash Royale, though its newest title Brawl Stars has also proved to be popular. According to Sensor Tower, in 2018 Clash of Clans was bringing in roughly $1.5 million (£1.16 million) per day.

This latest stock acquisition adds to Tencent’s ever-growing control over the games industry in 2019, with the Chinese tech giant owning the following:

• Riot Games – 100 percent
• Supercell – 51.2 percent
• Epic Games – 40 percent
• Bluehole – 11.5 percent
• Ubisoft – 5 percent
• Activision Blizzard – 5 percent
• Grinding Gear Games – 5 percent

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The company also has stakes in Frontier Development, Kakao, Paradox Interactive, Fatshark, Funcom, Sharkmob, and Discord.

Esports Insider says: It’s undeniable that Tencent has become a major player in both video game development and its connected services. Whilst Tencent has gone largely controversy-free, the recent banning of Hearthstone player blitzchung has caused fans to voice concerns about the amount of control Tencent and, by virtue, China has upon the Western games industry.

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