Tencent acquires Back 4 Blood developer Turtle Rock Studios

Conglomerate Tencent acquired Slamfire, the parent company of developer Turtle Rock Studios, as announced on Friday. Turtle Rock Studios is known for its work on the Left 4 Dead games, Evolve and more recently, the co-op shooter Back 4 Blood. Turtle Rock notes that despite the acquisition, the studio will continue to be run by its co-founders, Phil Robb and Chris Ashton.

Turtle Rock Studios plans to use the resources from the acquisition to expand the team and develop “new exciting multiplayer experiences.” The team is also promising to provide future updates on any plans decided upon for Back 4 Blood.

“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,” the team adds.

Tencent has rapidly grown in the gaming industry over the last few years, owning Riot Games and acquiring studios like Leyou, while also investing with minority stakes in numerous teams like Epic Games, Bloober Team, Dontnod and PlatinumGames.