Tag: Tencent
News Top-Notch Metroidvania F.I.S.T. Gets a PS5 Prequel in Zoopunk
Set decades before F.I.S.T.
TiGames has shared plans that it's making a prequel to the fantastic 2021 Metroidvania title F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch called Zoopunk. Set decades before the events of F.I.S.T., you can get your first look in the trailer above, with the game confirmed for PS5. Zoopunk explore the origins of Torch City, which was...
News 'Fame Does Not Create a Trademark': Sony, Tencent's War of Words Over Horizon Rip-Off Rage On
Ready, fight
Tencent is not backing down in its fight against Sony over the alleged Horizon rip-off Light of Motiram. The two organisations have gone back-and-forth in the courts a couple of times now, with the PlayStation maker originally describing its Chinese rival’s effort as a “slavish clone”. It sought the complete elimination of the...
News Sony Travelled to China to Discuss Mobile Adaptation of The Last of Us with Tencent
The last time it'll do that
Sony allegedly travelled to Shenzhen, China in July 2024 to discuss the prospect of a mobile adaptation of The Last of Us with Tencent subsidiary Aurora Studios – the same team behind sued Horizon rip-off Light of Motiram. The Game Post has been sharing fascinating new details from fresh court filings
"The damage is done"
The ongoing war of words between Sony and Tencent’s well-imbursed legal teams continues, as the Japanese giant has hit back at the Chinese juggernaut over Horizon knock-off Light of Motiram again. You may recall that PlayStation sued the “slavish clone” earlier in the year, claiming Tencent had pitched it on a mobile...
News Ubisoft and Tencent's New Company Stewards Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, More Starting Today
Reportedly named Vantage Studios
Ubisoft's joint venture with Tencent reportedly begins operations today, and its name is Vantage Studios. The company is a subsidiary of the European games publisher, and partially funded/owned by the Chinese conglomerate. According to VGC, Vantage Studios settled on its name by staff vote, and 1st October 2025...
"An improper attempt to fence off a well-trodden corner of popular culture"
Sony’s lawsuit against Horizon rip-off Light of Motiram has just taken a dramatic twist, as Tencent has fired back by claiming the platform holder “seeks an impermissible monopoly on genre conventions”. The barbed response from the Chinese titan, read by The Game...
News Devil May Cry, Dragon's Dogma, and Rival Schools Combine in Capcom Legend's New AAA Game
Itsuno seems excited
Hideaki Itsuno, a man many would describe as a living game development legend, has shed a little more light on his new project. Itsuno left Capcom around this time last year, having brought the likes of Devil May Cry and Dragon's Dogma to life. He was then handed the reins to his own studio, LightSpeed Japan, which falls under...
News Now It's Being Sued, Blatant Horizon Rip-Off Removes Copycat Artwork
Light of Motiram scrubs public evidence
It's almost as if Tencent predicted it would face a lawsuit over its Horizon knock-off Light of Motiram. Just a week after it was made public Sony plans to sue Tencent over the similarities between the two games, the Light of Motiram Steam page has been overhauled with entirely ne
News Tencent's Take on Horizon Would Have Taken Aloy to Asia
Rambling all over the world
The Horizon games are set in a post-apocalyptic America, with Zero Dawn set in Colorado and Forbidden West in San Francisco. However, gaming giant Tencent pitched Sony on an adaptation of the franchise that would take heroine Aloy to Asia. The news comes c
News Sony Sues Tencent Over 'Shameless' Horizon Copycat Coming to PS5
Chinese firm allegedly tried to license Guerrilla's IP
There’s paying homage and then there’s just outright copying. It looks like Sony’s legal team think Light of Motiram has crossed a line, and it’s suing Chinese giant Tencent over the “slavish” Horizon clone. According to Reuters, the platform holder filed a lawsuit against the...
News Tencent Buys 15% Stake in Helldivers 2 Dev Arrowhead for $80 Million
A little more than ten cents
Arrowhead Game Studios, the developer behind the enormously successful Helldivers 2, has a new stakeholder in Chinese conglomerate Tencent. The company has just acquired 15.75 per cent of shares in the studio, costing them $80 million. Arrowhead's co-founders own the rest of the business, with the remaining shares...
News Ubisoft Spins Off Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six into New Subsidiary with Tencent
"A new chapter in Ubisoft's history"
In a complicated corporate move, Ubisoft has announced it’s creating a new subsidiary to house its most important intellectual properties: Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six. The new company, valued at around €4 billion, will receive a €1.16 billion injection of cash from Chinese giant Tencent,...
News Tencent Increases Stake in FromSoftware Parent, Closing the Gap on Sony
"Part of a capital business alliance"
Chinese holding company Tencent, the biggest firm in the video game industry in terms of investment and revenue, has increased its stake in Kadokawa, the Japanese parent company of our beloved Soulslike maker, FromSoftware. Purchasing an additional 1.1% of Kadokawa's total shares, it now holds a 7.97% stake...
News Gaming Colossus Tencent Added to US Blacklist, Accused of Ties to Chinese Military
Tencent says it's a "misunderstanding"
Tencent, the juggernaut Chinese tech and gaming conglomerate, has been placed on a blacklist by the US Department of Defense. Being on said blacklist doesn't impose sanctions or stop companies trading in the US, but it's designed to deter other companies from doing business with the blacklisted entities. The...
News Tencent Acquires Controlling Stake in Dev of PS5's Wuthering Waves
Super rover
Wuthering Waves got off to a sturdy start when it launched on PC and mobile earlier this year, but it actually feels like it’s on the cusp of truly blowing up. With fan sentiment high, and a PS5 release planned for 2nd January, the gacha could be about to massively increase its popularity as its big v2.0 update nears. Chinese titan...
News Horizon Rip-Off Light of Motiram Will Actually Come to PS5
PlayStation seems happy to support it
Just a day after its initial announcement, Tencent has revealed its Horizon rip-off game Light of Motiram will also come to PS5, as well as mobile phones. PlayStation even appears happy to support the copycat with its Chinese accounts on Weibo and Bilibili promoting the trailer and even teasing "more...
News This Horizon Rip-Off Has to Be One of the Most Blatant Copycat Games Ever
Forbidden East
Tencent has announced a new open world, crafting-based survival game called Light of Motiram, and if comparisons to Sony's own Horizon series aren't immediately obvious, then you may need to book a Specsavers appointment. Clearly copying the overall theming, colourway, enemy design, and post-apocalyptic setting, this is a very blatant...
News Monster Hunter to Take Over Phones as Well as PS5 with Outlanders Spin-Off
Coming to iOS and Android devices soon
Capcom has revealed you'll be able to hunt monsters on both your PS5 and mobile phones soon as it announces official spin-off game Monster Hunter Outlanders for smartphones in a debut trailer. Building on Monster Hunter Now, this is a fully open-world adaptation with an optimised battle system that shall launch...
News Tencent Announces 15% Staff Reduction at UK-Based Sackboy Maker Sumo Group
Livelihoods of 270 employees on the line
Parent company Tencent has announced a round of layoffs at the UK-based Sumo Group, which includes international studios worldwide, as well as Sackboy and Texas Chain Saw Massacre developer Sumo Digital. A press release announced the news, revealing that the reduction would affect employees based in Canada,...
News Elden Ring Is Allegedly Getting a Smartphone Adaptation
Tencent converting console classic into free-to-play gacha
While everyone awaits Elden Ring’s anticipated Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, it seems like a mobile adaptation of the FromSoftware fantasy classic has quietly entered development. Reuters, citing “three people familiar with the matter”, claims Chinese titan Tencent is working on a...
News Remedy Ditches Free-to-Play Model for Upcoming Multiplayer Game
Project Kestrel now a "premium" title
Alan Wake 2 developer Remedy has today announced the online multiplayer project it's making with Tencent won't be a free-to-play release anymore. Instead, it'll launch as "a premium game with a strong, cooperative multiplayer component" now known as Kestrel (previously Vanguard). Besides the fact it takes place...
News Revived Military FPS Delta Force Teased for PS5, PS4, Full Reveal at Gamescom's ONL
Black Hawk Down
Delta Force is a series of military FPS shooters which began all the way back in 1998 and came to PlayStation with PS1's Urban Warfare (the fifth game in the franchise). Creator NovaLogic shuttered back in 2016, and its assets were acquired by THQ Nordic, which in turn, was swallowed by a bigger fish, the Embracer Group. Now, a...
News Dying Light Studio Techland Set to Be Acquired by Tencent
Will become majority shareholder
Dying Light 2 developer Techland has announced Chinese firm Tencent is setting itself up to become the studio's main shareholder, effectively acquiring the Polish team. Confirmed by founder Pawel Marchewka in a website post, he says the buyout allows Techland "to move full speed ahead with the execution of the vision...
News Tencent Acquires Stake in Dev of Korean PS5 Console Exclusive Stellar Blade
Shift up
SHIFT UP, the Korean company behind PS5 console exclusive Stellar Blade, has been partly acquired by Tencent. The Chinese juggernaut announced a 20 per cent stake in the studio today, and will become the second-largest shareholder in the firm, behind founder Kim Hyung Tae. Tencent already has ties to the team, as it’s the worldwide...
News Ex-PlayStation Boss Shawn Layden Lands New Job at Tencent
Joins as a strategic advisor
PlayStation has had its fair share of corporate shake-ups in the last few years, with a few executives climbing the ladder, switching focus, or jumping ship. Shawn Layden left the company in 2019, much to the dismay of industry enthusiasts. What he's been up to in the meantime has been less in the public domain, but a...
News System Shock Sequels are a Matter for Tencent to Decide, Says IP Owner
One step at a time
Nightdive Studios, the developer of the upcoming System Shock remake and owner of the original IP, says that the future of the franchise is now in the hands of publisher Tencent. Speaking to VGC at Gamescom, Nightdive CEO Stephen Kick explained that the rights to the third game, which has been in development under studio...
News Tencent Poised to Take Major Stake in French Publisher Ubisoft
Chinese titan en route to seal deal
Tencent looks poised to become the largest shareholder in Ubisoft, as it flies to France to secure a deal with the Guillemot family, who founded the firm and currently control 15 per cent of its shares. According to a report by Reuters, the Chinese juggernaut is aiming to become the largest single shareholder of...
News Tencent Buys Back 4 Blood Developer Turtle Rock Studios
Once bitten, twice shy
Chinese juggernaut Tencent has purchased Slamfire, the parent company of Back 4 Blood developer Turtle Rock Studios. This means that the team will become part of the conglomerate, while retaining its “independent operations” in Lake Forest, California. The studio will continue to be fronted by co-founders Phil Robb and...
News Tencent Acquires Minority Stake in Yooka-Laylee Dev Playtonic
Team retains IP control
The spending spree of Chinese company Tencent continues as Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic confirms it has sold a minority stake to the technology firm. The investment will be used to expand the studio from a single team to multiple, improve the developer's headquarters, and expand to new locations. Playtonic retains full...
News Chinese Open World RPG Honor of Kings Looks Mind Bogglingly Good
You need to see this
Another week, another Chinese RPG that’s sure to have jaws on the floor. This latest effort, Honor of Kings: World, is based on a smartphone game, and is being developed by TiMi Studio Group, a subsidiary of juggernaut Tencent. Judging from the trailer, it seems to be inspired by series like Monster Hunter, with the plot being...
News Tencent Tables $1.3 Billion Takeover of Sackboy Dev Sumo Digital
Offer acccepted
Chinese juggernaut Tencent has tabled a $1.27 billion bid for British developer Sumo Digital, which has been accepted. It means, assuming there are no unforeseen complications, the Sackboy: A Big Adventure maker will become a subsidiary of the WeChat app owner. This isn’t the conglomerate’s first foray into video games: it also...
News Platinum Games Receives Investment from Chinese Tech Giant Tencent
Partnership will aid self-publishing
The ever-busy Platinum Games always seems to be spinning lots of plates. Right now it's working on Babylon's Fall as well as the Switch exclusive Bayonetta 3, and it's also releasing remasters of both the original Bayonetta and Vanquish next month. It's partnering with various publishers for all these titles,...
