Tencent has purchased a majority stock in Klei Entertainment, the development studio behind Don't Starve. This was divulged from Klei Entertainment themselves through a forum announcement.
As part of this agreement, Klei will retain "full autonomy of creative and operations across all aspects of the studio, including projects, talent, and more." It certainly sounds as if Tencent will be very hands off but will still get the biggest benefits as the largest investor in the studio. In fact, Klei says that the biggest change will be "some boring accounting changes" that need to happen. There will be no other changes at Klei.
Why are we doing this?
Klei has been around for 15 years, and we have made many changes over the years in order to respond to a changing world. Consistently, my wish has been to enable people to do their best creative work, to learn and grow, to not have to worry about finances, and be able to enjoy their lives outside the studio. This has not changed.
This partnership helps us navigate a changing industry, and helps us focus on what we do best: making unique experiences that no one else can.
Why Tencent?
We looked at a lot of different companies, and over the years, we’ve worked with a large number of publishers and distributors. Tencent is the only company that we felt would let us retain the level of control that we demand.
We’ve been working with Tencent for years and even at points where we disagreed, they were always willing to work with us to find the best solution for everybody involved and defer to us when we felt strongly.
Klei has been around for 15 years, and we have made many changes over the years in order to respond to a changing world. Consistently, my wish has been to enable people to do their best creative work, to learn and grow, to not have to worry about finances, and be able to enjoy their lives outside the studio. This has not changed.
This partnership helps us navigate a changing industry, and helps us focus on what we do best: making unique experiences that no one else can.
Why Tencent?
We looked at a lot of different companies, and over the years, we’ve worked with a large number of publishers and distributors. Tencent is the only company that we felt would let us retain the level of control that we demand.
We’ve been working with Tencent for years and even at points where we disagreed, they were always willing to work with us to find the best solution for everybody involved and defer to us when we felt strongly.
