Tencent has become the largest shareholder of Clay Entertainment, a Canadian game company that is familiar with domestic gamers with’Don’t Starve’ and’Oxygen Not Included’. Clay Entertainment has said it maintains autonomy in game development and company operation, but fans are expressing a lot of concern.
Clay Entertainment announced on the 22nd (local time) that Tencent purchased a majority of its shares through the official website forum. Jamie Cheng, founder of Clay Entertainment of’Bigfoot’ said, “We hope that people at the company will be able to learn, grow, and enjoy life outside the studio while doing creative work without worrying about finances.” Partnerships help us (Clay) navigate a changing industry, allowing us to focus on what we do best.”
Tencent has released Clay Entertainment’s flagship Donstave Together on its game distribution platform’Wegame’, and is a new Donstave-based mobile game developed by Sheungch Games (formerly Shanda Games),’Donstave: New Home on Mobile. (Don’t Starve: Newhome on mobile) has established a cooperative relationship with publishing. “We’ve worked with a variety of publishers over the years,” said Jamie Chung. “Of these, Tencent is the only company that can maintain the level of control we demand.”
The reaction of fans to Clay Entertainment’s announcement is negative. If you look at the forum comments on the official website, you can see strong dislike for Tencent, such as “They (Tencent) are good at control”, “I believe in you (Clay Entertainment). But don’t be vigilant”, “Press’F'” . However, in a comment asking about ownership of IP, Jamie Chung said, “The IP that Clay Entertainment creates will continue to manage itself in the future.” “Tencent respects the content and method of our work. This is why we chose Tencent as a partner. The biggest reason” he emphasized.
Tencent is making aggressive investments in the global game industry. Only last year, it acquired Conan developer Funcom and Warframe developer’s parent company Rayu Technology, and has become the largest shareholder of Japanese game company Marvelous, which is famous for its’ranch story.