Tencent buys majority stake in Path of Exile studio

Overseas behemoth Tencent has purchased a huge majority stake in Path of Exile studio Grinding Gear Games, but the games-maker will still remain independent.

The devs at GGG today announced that Tencent has invested significantly into the studio with the aim of giving it the "resources to make Path of Exile as good as it can be." While the exact cost of the purchase remains unknown, the NZ Herald reports that Tencent bought 80% of Grinding Gear Games' shares, making it yet another major acquisition under the Chinese publisher's belt.

The Path of Exile devs assert that the studio will still remain fully independent and that the share purchase won't affect future development of their popular APRG. Grinding Gear Games will also still have full control of the Path of Exile IP, and no major changes will be made to the game's cosmetic-only monetization approach.

It's worth noting that Tencent and Grinding Gear Games have had a history before this acquisition: Tencent publishes the game in China, the world's biggest gaming market. According to predictions from analyst firm Newzoo, China will make up almost 28% of total global games market revenues in 2018, or $37.9 billion.

Check below for a full FAQ straight from GGG:

Tencent has Invested in Grinding Gear Games

Our Chinese publisher, Tencent, has acquired a majority stake in Grinding Gear Games. We will remain an independent company and there won't be any big changes to how we operate. We want to reassure the community that this will not affect the development and operations of Path of Exile, so we have prepared answers to some questions you may have about this investment.

Why Tencent? Why not another company?

Tencent is one of the largest companies in the world and also one of the largest games publishers in the world. Tencent owns giant franchises like League of Legends and Clash of Clans and has a strong reputation for respecting the design decisions of developers and studios they invest in, allowing a high level of autonomy in continuing to operate and develop their games.

We have been approached by many potential acquirers over the last five years, but always felt that they didn't understand Path of Exile, or that they had other agendas (like signing users up to their services). Tencent's agenda is clear: to give us the resources to make Path of Exile as good as it can be.

Is Grinding Gear Games becoming part of Tencent?

Grinding Gear Games is still an independently-run company in New Zealand. All of its developers still work for Grinding Gear Games and have not become Tencent employees. The founders (Chris, Jonathan and Erik) are still running the company, just like we have been for the last 11 years. Going forward, we will have financial reporting obligations to Tencent but this will have minimal impact on our philosophy and operations.

Will Tencent try to change Path of Exile?

No. We spoke to CEOs of other companies that Tencent has invested in, and have been assured that Tencent has never tried to interfere with game design or operations outside of China. We retain full control of Path of Exile and will only make changes that we feel are best for the game.

Will Path of Exile become Pay to Win?

No. We will not make any changes to its monetisation on our international servers.

Will Grinding Gear Games prioritise the Chinese version of Path of Exile?

The Chinese version of Path of Exile currently has its releases a few weeks after the international version. We are working hard to reduce this gap so that they come out closer together (or even simultaneously), but are not planning to prioritise the Chinese version of Path of Exile ahead of the international version. We want to treat all of our customers equally without any of them being frustrated at missing features or delayed releases.

Will the Chinese version get some features ahead of the international one?

We develop almost all features on the international version. But sometimes, Tencent will request features that they want to try in the Chinese version that we don't plan to roll into the international version. If those features turn out to be a really good fit for both versions, then we of course port them back into the international version.

Will I have to have some type of Tencent account to log in?

No. Nothing is changing with the way you access Path of Exile on the international servers.

What's next for Grinding Gear Games?

A lot more Path of Exile! We are committed to our current schedule of four releases per year, and we have some really big plans for future expansions. If you like what we've done so far, you'll love what we're working on next. As well as multiple 3.x expansions in 2018 and 2019, we've just started development of 4.0.0, which is currently targeted to enter Beta testing in early 2020.