Splash Damage breaks away from Tencent

Splash Damage is now no longer owned by the Chinese video-game giant Tencent, having been acquired by private-equity investors.

The UK-based studio confirmed in a statement that it would continue to operate under its existing leadership team, but added that it would “not be providing further comment at this time.”

Splash Damage was formed in 2001, and rose to fame for its work on the Wolfenstein expansion Enemy Territory. The firm later worked with Microsoft as a support studio for various titles in the Gears of War franchise.

In 2016, Splash Damage was acquired by the Chinese poultry firm Leyou, which had previously bought a majority stake in Warframe developer Digital Extremes.

Then, in 2020, Tencent bought Leyou Technologies for around $1.3 billion, adding Splash Damage to its extensive portfolio of studios.

In 2021, in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Splash Damage CEO Richard Jolly was bullish about the studio’s prospects following the takeover.

“Looking ahead, we’ve got some very ambitious plans for our next decade that we had already started on before the acquisition,” he said. “Now, we’re able to accelerate those. As one of the founders of the studio, I can honestly say that this is the most excited I’ve ever been for where we’re headed.”

The following year, Splash Damage announced it was working on Transformers: Reactivate. Then in 2023, it revealed it was also working on an open-world survival game codenamed Project Astrid.

However, in January this year, Splash Damage announced that Transformers: Reactivate had been cancelled, putting a number of roles at the studio at risk of redundancy. No reason for the cancellation was given.

Yong-yi Zhu, VP and head of business operations, strategy, and compliance at Tencent Games, recently emphasised Tencent’s commitment to Western studios in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz.

“I will speak from the perspective of my division,” he said. “We have no plans at the moment to pull out. You may see a reduction in investment in certain places, and I think part of that is just the realities of the industry and the dynamics of the industry.”