Tencent Acquires 94% Of Swords Of Legends Online Developer Wangyuan Shengtang

Tencent has gobbled up another video game development studio as it acquires controlling stake in Beijing-based Wangyuan Shengtang Entertainment. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the studio behind the now-defunct wuxia-inspired fantasy MMORPG Swords of Legends Online.

The Chinese tech and media giant now owns 94% of Wangyuan Shengtang, which it already had a 20% stake in, along with the studio’s entire portfolio of games and its resources, including its marketing and distribution channels. It also gives them access to the entire Swords of Legends franchise which remains extremely popular in China.

Whether Swords of Legends Online will get another shot in the west remains to be seen, but Wangyuan founder and CEO Meng Xianming says that they’ll be allowed to continue developing their games independently.