The Chinese publisher Tencent has bought 80% of the shares of Grinding Gear Games. This is the developer studio behind the action RPG Path of Exile. Fans now have a different feeling towards the small Grinding Gear Games.
Grinding Gear Games assures independence: Tencent has acquired almost the entire pie of Grinding Gear Games. In a forum post the developers explained the situation regarding Tencent. It is said that the Chinese giant, despite the massive shares, will not influence the fundamental development of the game.
Tencent has a reputation for not interfering: Grinding Gear Games has spoken with other studios that work together with Tencent. These developers assured Grinding Gear Games that Tencent would only influence the game design in China.
They would retain full control over Path of Exile: The founders of the studio, Chris, Jonathan, and Erik will continue to run the company. Changes to the game will only be made if Grinding Gear Games supports them.
Tencent’s agenda according to Grinding Gear Games: Tencent intends to provide the studio with the necessary resources to develop the best version of Path of Exile. The only change for Grinding Gear Games is that they now need to regularly disclose financial reports to Tencent.
Fans now have to stand by Goliath, not David
In Path of Exile’s Reddit the Tencent news was discussed and the post reached 2570 upvotes. The majority of fans reacted disillusioned.
At the top is a post by user Iddiamond, which received much support: “One problem here will be that the perception of Grinding Gear Games changes for the average player.”
Iddiamond described the situation as players previously feeling like they were supporting a David in gaming with Grinding Gear Games. Corporate giants like Activision/Blizzard are viewed as Goliath.
Even though some of the microtransactions in Path of Exile are expensive, players have always felt that they were supporting the “little guy” and liked to do so. This feeling would evaporate with the Tencent/Grinding Gear Games alliance. As a result, players would be inclined to keep their money in their pockets, as now a big corporation stands behind Grinding Gear Games.
Iddiamond’s concerns are often expressed in the Reddit post regarding Tencent’s acquisition. However, it is respected that Grinding Gear Games operates transparently and keeps its players informed.
Grinding Gear Games is not the only studio that has sold large shares to Tencent. Giants like Riot Games (League of Legends) or Epic Games (Fortnite) have also been largely acquired by the Chinese giant either fully or in part.
Path of Exile is expecting a major expansion soon, where you can travel through time.
