Multinational tech conglomerate Tencent will buy Sumo Digital, the UK-based studio group behind Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Team Sonic Racing, and a number of other games for $1.27 billion. The two companies jointly announced the acquisition and represent another landmark deal that follows a handful of other big-name acquisitions made this year.Tencent has already owned an 8.75% stake in Sumo Digital since 2019. Sumo Digital as a collective group of studios has developed both original IPs as well as numerous work-for-hire projects over the course of its near-two decade long history as a game development studio. With this acquisition—carried out by Tencent’s subsidiary Sixjoy Hong Kong Limited—Sumo will see a 43% increase in its share value. Sumo CEO Carl Cavers stated that the deal will present the company with opportunities in the industry “in ways which have previously been out-of-reach.”Tencent has a strong track record for backing management teams and their existing strategies. Alongside the acceleration of own-IP work, Tencent has demonstrated its commitment to backing our client work and has stated its intention to ensure that we have the necessary investment to continue focusing on work with our key strategic partners on turn-key and co-development projects.Sumo Digital’s most recent release was Hood: Outlaws & Legends in 2021, but the studio has also frequently worked with Sony Interactive Entertainment to release several PlayStation-exclusive titles such as Sackboy: A Big Adventure and LittleBigPlanet 3, picking up where series creators Media Molecule left off. The studio has also worked on other popular franchises, such as SEGA’s Team Sonic Racing as well as Xbox Game Studios’ Crackdown 3.Back in 2019, Sumo Digital announced that it would be expanding with a new office in Warrington, England, totaling eight offices globally. Later in 2020, it revealed that it was working on 21 different projects, many of which were work-for-hire projects made in partnership with publishers such as 2K, SEGA, and Xbox Game Studios. Sumo’s ongoing working relationships with assorted publishers are unlikely to change following its acquisition by Tencent. The studio has promised to continue with its specialization in client work in line with their existing strategy.[Source: Gameindustry.biz]
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