Tencent is likely to acquire 1C Entertainment and Ceneg -apkrig
The Chinese company Tencent is likely to acquire 1C Entertainment in its portfolio of owned companies. The information is provided by World Today News with reference to a request from Tencent’s subsidiary – Proxima Beta – at the Polish Competition and Consumer Protection Authority. The new owner would be acquired by a developer and publisher who, in addition to Poland, Russia, Hungary and Cyprus, also operates in the Czech Republic, and this would also apply to its subsidiaries, such as Cenega and the Muve digital game store. These entities also operate on the Czech market, with Cenega being a distributor of games from companies such as Square Enix, Take-Two, Bethesda, Sega, Bandai Namco and Warner Bros.
However, the described request may not yet be a confirmation that the trade will actually take place.
The Polish authority’s website makes it clear that the Dutch company Proxima Beta is seeking permission to take over 1C Entertainment, in order to confirm that the transaction will not create a monopoly in the industry. This is a standard process that has recently involved, for example, Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda and is a mandatory part of virtually any move between larger business owners. However, the described request may not yet be a confirmation that the transaction will actually take place, but the evidence of tacit conduct is provided by the said office relatively unambiguously.
The details of the application for permission make it clear that Proxima Beta belongs to Tencent and that with this step it wants to acquire the entire 1C Entertainment group. In addition to Cenega and the Muve store, it also includes the QLOC studio, which has almost 450 employees, specializing in title porting, localization, testing and art design, so it would be a relatively important part of the entire acquisition. The importance is also underlined by QLOC references, which include collaborations with studies such as Paradox, Obsidian, Gameloft, 4A Games, Vicarious Visions and others, including work on Resident Evil 5, BioShock, Dead Rising or more recently Metro Exodus or Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 +2. It is therefore difficult to judge which part of 1C Entertainment Tencent is most concerned about, but the eagerness to own a relatively large studio in Poland could be.
