Chinese media conglomerate Tencent reportedly acquired 15.75% of Arrowhead Game Studios, the company behind galaxy-spanning shooters Helldivers and Helldivers 2.
A new report from Swedish site Dagens Industri (per BreakIt) claims that Tencent bought up about 16% of the developer worth around $83 million in July, 2024, just a few months after its mammoth hit game came out. For context, Arrowhead is reportedly valued at approximately $532 million, according to DI, and has an operating profit of $76 million.
This likely won’t change Arrowhead Game Studios’ day-to-day business – the galactic war in Helldivers 2 will probably chug on as planned – but company co-founder and CCO Johan Pilestedt did tell DI that the partnership could open doors for the developer to reach gamers in China.
Helldivers 2 obviously sold like gangbusters last year, shifting 12 million copies in 12 weeks, and it hasn’t really hit the brakes since. Pilestedt recently celebrated the fact that around 2.5 million people were jumping into Helldivers 2 weekly well over a year after release.
On the other hand, it’s not particularly good news for those opposed to consolidation in the video game industry, as Tencent has its fingers in so many pies that it’s difficult to keep track of its shopping spree. The company holds a minority stake in everything from Remedy Entertainment (Alan Wake), FromSoftware (Elden Ring), and Dontnod (Life is Strange) – alongside a majority stake in Supercell (Clash of Clans) and it outright owns Riot Games (League of Legends). Heck, just this year Tencent snagged a 25% minority stake in a new Ubisoft subsidiary that’ll handle Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six.
