Tencent Has Reportedly Invested In PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

UPDATE: Bluehole has denied reports that Tencent purchased a stake in the company.

Support continues to build for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, the arena shooter that meshes aspects of survival games, “traditional” competitive shooters and the 2000 cult classic film Battle Royale. And the latest group to take interest in PUBG might very well bring a larger checkbook than the rest of the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds community combined.

According to Yicai Global (h/t Gamasutra), Tencent, a Chinese firm with stakes in everything from Riot Games to social networks and e-commerce companies, has invested an unknown amount of cash in Bluehole, the studio behind PUBG. Exact terms of that investment, including the amount of money transferred, is not known at this time. The investment comes after more than six million people, and closing in on seven, bought the popular shooter on Steam. Tencent apparently offered to purchase the studio outright, but Bluehole declined that offer.

It might seem like a late decision to get in the game; however, it’s worth noting that Tencent does have some experience with long-tailed games (like League of Legends). Chinese players also make up approximately 19 percent of the PUBG community, less than the US (24 percent), but more than the next two countries (Russia, Germany; 6 percent each) combined. Tencent’s interest in Bluehole also comes after the company picked up a nine percent stake in Frontier Developments, the studio behind Elite Dangerous and Planet Coaster.

New funding isn’t the only big news for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. A member of the PUBG dev team released more footage of the vaulting system unveiled at E3. The video is only 74 seconds long. But it does let us see how players will interact with several different surfaces. The footage also confirms players can bail out of climb, jump or vault animations if the need arises.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is currently available in Early Access. A full release is expected before the end of the year and an Xbox One port is slated for early 2018.

Be sure to check back with Player.One and follow Scott on Twitter for more PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds news in 2017 and however long Bluehole supports PUBG in the years ahead.