Playtonic has confirmed that it has sold a minority stake to Tencent, and will use the investment to scale up “from their current one team structure to multiple teams.”
That will see the developer place “an emphasis on hiring diverse talent from near and afar,” work on improving their headquarters and explore an expansion to new locations.
“Six years ago we built a cool, exciting rocket ship, set a course we think is right and exciting. We are thrilled that Tencent agrees with that course and has provided some rocket fuel to further the reach of our mission!” enthuses Playtonic founder Gavin Price.
“The countdown to today has included (deep inhale)… our record-breaking Kickstarter for Yooka-Laylee, growing the buddy-duo’s reach with the acclaimed Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, establishing Playtonic Friends and the successful launch of its first three titles – BPM: Bullets Per Minute, A Little Golf Journey and Demon Turf, signing three further incredible beauties in L’il gator Game, Victory Heat Rally and Blossom Tales 2 – The Minotaur Prince, and all the while still being cool (ask our parents)!
“BUT with Tencent’s help, we can scale up and fast-track the super-exciting, super-secret projects we’ve been keeping close to our treasure chests too… things are going to get Bat Ship Crazy over the next few years! Please imagine a wink emoji right now.”
Alongside this news, it was announced that Danny Spiteri – who has previously worked at Raw Fury and Team 17 – has been hired as the new head of publishing at Playtonic.
Spiteri adds: “It’s been less than a year since Playtonic Friends was unveiled but, it’s fair to say, it’s made quite an impression in a relatively short space of time. The array of titles that’s already been published is quite something and I’m excited to see how I can add wind to the sails to help us build on the momentum we’ve already amassed to power us into 2022.”
