Californian game developer Turtle Rock Studios is now part of Tencent, as announced today by the companies in a joint press release. The studio will continue to be based in Lake Forest, California, and Turtle Rock Studios co-founders Phil Robb and Chris Ashton will still be running operations in an independent fashion. Additionally, this acquisition (whose financial terms were not disclosed) doesn't affect in any way Back 4 Blood, which is published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

　　Steve Goldstein, president and general manager of Turtle Rock Studios, said:

　　We are all looking forward to joining the Tencent family of studios. Tencent’s outstanding partners, global reach, deep knowledge of gaming and unprecedented support will help us create the kinds of ambitious games we dream of while allowing us to retain our autonomy and independent spirit.

　　Eddie Chan, chief strategy officer of Tencent Games Global, added:

　　We are huge fans of Turtle Rock’s games, especially their amazing approach to creating cooperative online games. We can’t wait to see what comes next, and we’re excited to be part of their future.

　　Turtle Rock Studios shared the following message regarding the acquisition on its website, hinting heavily at plans to make Back 4 Blood a franchise.

　　2021 has been a truly extraordinary year for us with the launch of Back 4 Blood and our new partnership with Tencent. 2022 and beyond will take us to new heights. We are growing our team to support Back 4 Blood and develop new exciting multiplayer experiences. We will continue to transparently communicate with you all, provide updates on all our progress through our Trello board and expand upon what makes Back 4 Blood so special. Additionally, we get to do something we have never done before as a studio: turn a universe we created into a true long-standing AAA franchise. We can now ensure that the Back 4 Blood franchise is here to stay and we will be working on it well into the future.

　　Turtle Rock Studios is also known for its work on Evolve, Left 4 Dead 1&2, and Counter-Strike: Source, in addition to a number of Virtual Reality projects published by Oculus Studios. Five years ago, the game developer had announced a cooperative dark fantasy first-person shooter made in partnership with Perfect World Entertainment. However, this project was quietly canceled ahead of Back 4 Blood.

　　As for Tencent, here's a list of notable gaming companies the Chinese giant has invested in. Tencent is also attempting to acquire Sumo Digital for $1.27 billion. That deal appears to be nearing its completion following an investigation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, with Sumo Digital confident that everything should be ready by next month.