Joystiq

Riot Games confirms Tencent majority buyout

Mike Schramm — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:15:00 EST

Riot Games has confirmed that a majority of the company was bought by China's Tencent, putting its stamp of approval on rumors of the deal last week. Brandon Beck, Riot's CEO, is quoted as saying that "Tencent's investment will provide our talented team of designers, developers and community staff with additional resources to focus on innovating around League of Legends and launching new projects that push the boundaries in the gaming space."

Financial Times has a nice analysis of the deal -- it sounds like this agreement will help both sides, as Riot will not only get that nice cash infusion of a rumored $350 million, but also invaluable assistance and insight for what it was already hoping would be a nice overseas adoption. And Tencent, of course, gets to lay claim to League of Legends and any other titles that Riot developers, along with the huge microtransaction-based revenues that go along with them, both here and eventually overseas.

Plus, this is a sign of the growing trend of Eastern publishers picking up Western companies to develop content for the large audiences over there. Chinese publisher The9 recently bought another Blizzard spinoff, Red 5 Studios, for $15 million, and Japanese firm DeNA picked up iOS developer ngmoco for $400 million as well. Western audiences are big, but Eastern audiences are bigger and, as a result, there's high demand for well-developed games in that market.

Riot Games confirms Tencent majority buyout originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reports: Chinese online giant Tencent acquires majority stake in Riot Games

Mike Schramm — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 21:30:00 EST

China's biggest Internet company, Tencent, has reportedly acquired a majority stake in Los Angeles-based Riot Games for the sum of $350 million. Tencent has already acquired a number of other Western properties, including Crytek's free-to-play FPS and Take-Two's NBA 2K Online, and also runs the QQ messaging service, boasting over 600 million-plus users. Riot makes League of Legends, the free-to-play DotA-style multiplayer title, and has said it will stay in Los Angeles and continue to "aggressively" hire through 2011.

This deal likely won't affect the day-to-day of League of Legends (or any other titles Riot has under development), but given Tencent's contacts and assets in China, Riot will likely get a lot of help in spreading its games to players overseas. The transaction is still subject to regulatory measures, but is expected to close within 30 days.

Reports: Chinese online giant Tencent acquires majority stake in Riot Games originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GameFly purchases Shacknews

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:07:00 EST

Online game rental service GameFly has purchased Shacknews and its related websites, including FileShack. Shacknews announced GameFly plans to maintain the sites and even bolster with "additional resources." With an understanding that recent takeovers of beloved editorial institutions haven't gone so well, GameFly's co-founder, Sean Spector, states that the rental service isn't "looking to twist and turn the site into something else."

It's certainly an interesting move for the rental service to buy an editorial outlet and talk expansion, especially in this economy. Then again, GameFly's business doesn't seem to be hurting, as it continues to expand its rental service with a new distribution center in Seattle. In the words of a very wise book: Don't Panic.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]

GameFly purchases Shacknews originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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