Tencent Moves to Acquire Game Developer Funcom

Tencent Cloud Europe is looking to add to its gaming portfolio.

The internet company, which owns shares in game developers including Riot Games, Epic Games, Supercell, Ubisoft, Paradox, and Frontier, made a voluntary cash offer to acquire Norwegian game developer Funcom. Tencent’s technology already powers many games and the company nearly 29% of all shares in Funcom.

“We have had a great relationship with Tencent as our largest shareholder so far and we are excited about this opportunity,” says Funcom CEO Rui Casais. “We will continue to develop great games that people all over the world will play, and we believe that the support of Tencent will take Funcom to the next level. Tencent will provide Funcom with operational leverage and insights from its vast knowledge as the leading company in the game space.”

Pending approval of its board, Funcom, plans to “increase the ambition level” of its upcoming open-world survival game based on Frank Herbert’s Dune.

Following the intended acquisition, which will be up for shareholder approval beginning next month, the company plans no changes to its management, staffing, or structure. Funcom says it will continue to support its long-running online games Conan Exiles, Secret World Legends, Age of Conan, and Anarchy Online.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.