Developer Bigfoot Posted January 22, 2021 Developer Share Posted January 22, 2021 Hello everyone! I want to take a moment to announce that we have agreed to deal for Tencent to purchase a majority stake in Klei Entertainment. As part of this agreement, Klei retains full autonomy of creative and operations across all aspects of the studio, including projects, talent, and more. What’s going to change? There are some boring accounting changes that we will need to adjust to. Other than that, I will continue running the studio as before, with no changes to staffing, projects or other operations. Why are we doing this? Klei has been around for 15 years, and we have made many changes over the years in order to respond to a changing world. Consistently, my wish has been to enable people to do their best creative work, to learn and grow, to not have to worry about finances, and be able to enjoy their lives outside the studio. This has not changed. This partnership helps us navigate a changing industry, and helps us focus on what we do best: making unique experiences that no one else can. Who is Tencent? Tencent has been in the games industry for many years, investing in companies that produce games such as Path of Exile, League of Legends, PUBG, Clash of Clans, Fortnite, and more. In 2016, Tencent helped us distribute Klei games in China, with Don’t Starve Together being the very first game to launch on their WeGame platform. More recently, we’ve been collaborating with them on Don’t Starve: Newhome on mobile. Why Tencent? We looked at a lot of different companies, and over the years, we’ve worked with a large number of publishers and distributors. Tencent is the only company that we felt would let us retain the level of control that we demand. We’ve been working with Tencent for years and even at points where we disagreed, they were always willing to work with us to find the best solution for everybody involved and defer to us when we felt strongly. How does this affect Klei games in China? As mentioned, we’ve been working with Tencent for quite some time. We worked with them to launch Don’t Starve Together in China in 2016, and have been working with them on our China launches ever since. Players in China make up a large proportion of the players of our games, and we have been supporting them alongside our North American operation for several years. We don’t expect significant operational changes for China or anywhere else in the world, but we do expect that this partnership will help us to better support our players in China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanitar Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Press "F" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuffles Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Not to sound the alarm bells, but oh no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-met Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PasssionFish Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 I know nothing about tencent but i know a lot of people dont like them for stuff, but im not concerned since you say you will still have control over the game, good luck with this klei, and stay safe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim the Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 They better maintain control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tosh Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Love that Klei retain creative autonomy, but how does this affect ownership of the Don’t Starve IP? Would the rights to the IP stay with the Canadian studio, or does Tencent have the power to license it out to other studios and distribute the new games without going through Klei? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BezKa Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 I trust you guys. But keep an eye out for anything worrisome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruhmoment23 Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Rip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowDuelist Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 I only hope this prolongs the life of the don’t starve franchise, and lets it grow in more relaxed development times and more ambitious projects, always with the full creative lead of Klei, and the financial support of Tencent. If that is the case this can be a really good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viberr Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 weirdchamp just weirdchamp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxposting Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 This can be okay. Is tencent even the bad guy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruhmoment23 Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Just now, __IvoCZE__ said: This can be okay. Is tencent even the bad guy? Depends on what aspect, generally it's one of the worst chinese companies to exist on this planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Developer Bigfoot Posted January 22, 2021 Author Developer Share Posted January 22, 2021 16 minutes ago, Tosh said: Love that Klei retain creative autonomy, but how does this affect ownership of the Don’t Starve IP? Would the rights to the IP stay with the Canadian studio, or does Tencent have the power to license it out to other studios and distribute the new games without going through Klei? We're still going to be managing all the IP that Klei creates. If anything, Tencent has shown real respect to us and consistently deferred to us in what and how to present our work, which is one of the reasons we chose them as our partner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowDuelist Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 1 minute ago, bruhmoment23 said: Depends on what aspect, generally it's one of the worst chinese companies to exist on this planet. Why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RageLeague Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Tencent is a company that is based on copying what other people are doing and buying out the competition, both things that Klei is not. Personally, I wouldn't work with Tencent on principle, but I also don't have a degree in economics, so really I have no idea what I'm saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunning fox Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 15 hours ago, __IvoCZE__ said: This can be okay. Is tencent even the bad guy? Well, most of it is owned by Chineese gouverment, but let's not get political here EDIT: Gues we ARE getting political Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plague doc Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 im fine with it aslong as theres no non-cosmetic paywalls for dst Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MondayNight Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 While indeed an investments influx will theoretically enable KLei into developing DST (their biggest IP) even further past "Return of Them" (perhaps into a "Through the Ages" direction with more dynamic late-game content, new biomes, new changes to existing biomes, new weather and seasons, mobs etc with passing of in-game years), knowing what Tencent does under direct supervision of CCP makes one troubled. On the other hand KLei is very careful with their public statements... and we'll leave it at that. Let's hope for the best for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pokejerk360 Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Hope this doesn't go poorly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaZoul Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 huh. okkkkkie dokkkkkie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonboooorn Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 ... And I thought 2021 would be a better year. What a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCDA Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 3 hours ago, Bigfoot said: Tencent Anakin is dead, and now Darth Vader takes his place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonardo Cox Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 2021 is off to a great start ain't it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BezKa Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 I read the post again and I just can't understand why. Aren't there better ways to get money than basically selling an entire company to someone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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