Tencent Holdings Limited has reportedly invested its interests in Bluehole Studio, the developer behind PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG).
Hailing from China, the largest internet and gaming company in the world is always on the lookout for new opportunities. According to a report by Jiemian News, Tencent Holdings was initially interested in purchasing Bluehole Studio altogether. However, the offer was turned down by the developer. Following the rejection, a compromise was recently settled in the form an investment.
Neither of the two parties have so far made an official announcement. It is also not known as to how much Tencent Holdings originally offered to purchase the developer and what percentage of controlling interest it has managed to obtain in the end.
A report from June stated that the behemoth firm had allocated $15 billion for the expansion of esports in China. PUBG, while remaining in early access, is still far from being seen as a competitive game. However, it is possible that Tencent Holdings found it hard to disregard the success that the online battle royale genre has seen this year. This is backed by another report from last month that revealed the firm to be funding a clone of PUBG but for mobile devices.
Tencent Holdings already features an impressive and large portfolio in the gaming industry. It owns Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, and has shares in Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, Supercell, and a number of other studios. Provided that the report of the new investment is legitimate, Tencent Holdings has just added another feather to its cap.
PUBG was released in early access just four months ago. Since then it has sold more than six million copies on Steam. It is looking forward to an official release later this year, alongside arriving for the Xbox One. A separate release for the PlayStation 4 should take place sometime next year.
