Rovio Stockholm GM leaves, DeNA dissolves US arm, and Tencent takes $3.5 billion in loans for Supercell deal
Tencent’s pending acquisition of Clash Royaledeveloper Supercell for some $8.6 billion has been major news in the games industry.
So it’s no surprise that our most popular article of the week was how Tencent is taking out an enormous $3.5 billion in loans to help fund one of the games industry’s biggest ever deals.
Job losses and new jobs
In second place was the sad news that DeNA is shutting down its US operations as it retreats back to Japan and Asia.
Thirdly, Rovio Stockholm GM Patrick Liu has left to join Spotify as Reginaldo Valadares takes charges at the studio.
Finally, we got the news that Warlords developer Black Anvil has been shut down as part of job cuts at Wooga, and we take a look at the history of game engine, the race to the bottom and the warnings it offers for the future.
#1: Report: Tencent taking $3.5 billion loan for Supercell deal
Tencent’s acquisition of Clash Royale developer Supercell is quite the big deal. It’s worth $8.6 billion to be exact.
It’s also a hugely complex piece of business. To help fund the purchase, Tencent is taking out $3.5 billion in loans.
The Chinese internet company has commitments from 23 banks to make up the money for the deal.
It’s not the only way it’s making money though, a consortium of Chinese and other international investors has also raised some $850 million to support the acquisition.
#2: DeNA dissolves US subsidiary as Western games fail to meet expectations
DeNA hasn’t quite been at the heights it was at just a few years ago, and it was sad to see the Asian company has made the decision to close its US operations.
This included the San Francisco-based DeNA Global and ngmoco LLC.
This all came about after DeNA’s games developed for Western markets had failed to meet expectations, resulting in a shift in strategy from the publisher.
It now plans to focus on Japan and China. But as for its Western operations, it plans to collaborate with external partners rather than employ staff at internal development studios.
#3: Reginaldo Valadares appointed Rovio Stockholm GM as Patrick Liu leaves for Spotify
Not too long after Rovio Stockholm GM Oskar Burman left, replacement GM Patrick Liu has also left for pastures new.
He’s heading off to music streaming giant Spotify where he’ll take on the role of Senior Product Owner – his first role outside the games industry for 11 years.
In his stead will be Reginaldo Valadares, who has been promoted from Head of Production.
He’s previously held Studio roles at the likes of Aeria Games and Glu Mobile during his 17 years in the industry, so the studio looks like it’s in safe hands.
#4: A messy history of game engines and a race to the bottom offers a warning for the future
It’s been a tough year in the game engines space. Tech start-up MaxPlay has laid off most of its staff despite raising $17 million a year ago.
Corona Labs was sold to its own CEO by Perk in September after it decided to move investment elsewhere in its business, and Marmalade is also shutting down its game development platform.
It’s a tough market that’s been in a race to the bottom for years. And with big players like Amazon and Autodesk joining the fray, who will survive the coming fight?
We took a look at the history of game engines, and the warnings it offers developers for the future.
#5: Midcore spin-off studio Black Anvil shut down as part of Wooga cuts
It’s always sad to hear of a studio closure, and it was once again a shame to receive the news that the studio behind Warlords has been shut down.
Wooga took the decision to close Black Anvil as part of its internal restructuring that saw 40 job cuts as it focuses back on casual games.
It had previously been thought Black Anvil had been safe from the job cuts, but PocketGamer.biz has been informed this is not the case, and former Head of studio Wilhelm Oesterberg is no longer at the company.
Despite being a good quality game, Warlords had struggled to reach the top echelons of the app stores’ top grossing charts after its recent launch.