Tencent Games Acquiring 10% Stake of Sumo Digital Owner

Chinese corporate giant Tencent announced today their games division will acquire a ten percent stake in Sumo Group, the company which owns Team Sonic Racing and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing developer Sumo Digital.

GamesIndustry.biz reports 15 million shares will be acquired from investor Perwyn. Perwyn will now own just over 17 percent of shares in the company.

Tencent Games owns pieces large and small of several gaming companies, most notably and controversially Activision Blizzard, who had to diffuse significant backlash in the gaming community after a professional Hearthstone player was banned for expressing support for ongoing protesters in Hong Kong during an official tournament livestream. Blizzard Entertainment’s president apologized for the situation during Blizzcon earlier this month, but the suspension remains in place. With Tencent’s ties to the Chinese government, some have speculated the harsh punishment was a direct result of pressure from Tencent onto Blizzard, which the company has denied.