Tencent to acquire Polish gamedev company Techland. UPD: The deal is estimated at $1.6B

Chinese tech giant Tencent will acquire the majority stake in Wrocław-based independent game developer, maker of the Dying Light series, Techland. The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, but this transaction will supposedly rank among the top 4 on the list of selected acquisitions by the Chinese holding company.

• Founded in 1991 by Pawel Marchewka, Techland is a video game developer, distributor, and global publisher for all leading platforms, including PC, Sony PlayStation, the Xbox One family of devices, including Xbox One X. Techland is best known for the Dying Light franchise. Before that, Techland developed four games for the Western Call of Juarez series, and also the first Dead Island, as well as its sequel Dead Island Riptide. 
• In 2022, Techland generated a profit of $186 million. Currently, Techland is working on an open-world fantasy action RPG, which was not officially titled yet. The game was described as an epic narrative adventure with an exotic open world to be explored and a focus on the story. 
• Shenzhen-headquartered, Tencent is a world-leading internet and technology company that develops products and services to improve the quality of life. Tencent also publishes video games and offers a range of services such as cloud computing, advertising, fintech, and other enterprise services.

“Teaming up with Tencent will allow us to move full speed ahead with the execution of the vision for our games. We have chosen an ally who has already partnered with some of the world’s finest video game companies and helped them reach new heights while respecting their ways of doing things,”

Pawel Marchewka, the CEO and founder of Techland, commented the deal. 

• Techland will retain full ownership of its IPs, and Pawel Marchewka will continue serving as the studio’s CEO.

UPD: The possible amount of the deal is estimated to be around $1.6 billion (PLN 6.3 billion), according to the Polish publication Bankier.pl. The deal can be the largest merger/acquisition of 2023 on the Polish market, if the estimation is true.