Bluehole confirms Tencent talks
PlayerUnknown's Battleground studio says online giant has had talks about buying equity stake, publishing the game in China
Bluehole denied rumors of a Tencent investment in the studio last month, but the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds developer and the Chinese online giant may yet strike a deal. Speaking with Bloomberg, Bluehole chairman and cofounder Chang Byung-gyu confirmed that the studio and Tencent have been in talks about multiple forms of partnership.
Chang said Tencent has offered not just a publishing agreement to bring the surprise hit survival shooter into the Chinese market, but to buy an equity stake in the company.
"Tencent can be a very important partner for us," he said, with the ongoing talks characterized as promising.
Elsewhere in the article, Bloomberg reported that Bluehole was worth $4.6 billion, attributing that news to a website that tracks unlisted Korean stocks. (GamesIndustry.biz attempts to access the site were unsuccessful, as it has apparently been down much of today.)
Earlier this month, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds topped 10 million copies sold. Since then, it has also set new records for the most concurrent players on Steam. At today's peak, the game saw 1.74 million people on Steam playing simultaneously.