Tencent is set to buy videogame developer Sumo in a $1.27 billion deal, adding new titles to its growing portfolio of chart-topping videogames.
The purchase, which will boost the Chinese internet giant’s presence globally, brings together Sumo’s racing and snooker games with Tencent’s more high-profile range of games that includes Call of Duty’s mobile version.
China’s market regulator decided to block Tencent’s plans to merge videogame streaming sites, Huya and DouYu, on antitrust grounds.
It is the second major deal involving a British video game company over the past year, following U.S. video game maker Electronic Arts’ deal to buy Britain-based Codemasters.
Tencent, with stakes in companies that make Fortnite and League of Legends, is the world’s second-largest videogame group by revenue after Sony.
Sumo counts Microsoft’s Xbox, Amazon Game Studios, Apple, Google and BBC as its clients and partners.
Tencent owns 8.75 percent and is the second-biggest shareholder in Sumo, which has 14 studios in five countries and released the video games including Hotshot Racing, Sackboy: A Big Adventure and WST Snooker last year.
