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The Korea Herald
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THE INVESTOR
March 29, 2024

Mobile & Internet

Tencent eying stakes in Bluehole Studio

  • PUBLISHED :August 15, 2017 - 10:49
  • UPDATED :August 15, 2017 - 10:50
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[THE INVESTOR] Chinese internet and game giant Tencent Holdings has expressed interest in investing in Bluehole Studio, the game developer of “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,“ Korea Economic Daily reported on Aug. 14, citing unnamed sources.

According to the report, Tencent contacted several venture capital firms such Altos Ventures, IMM Investment and PremierPartners which own stakes in Bluehole. 



Founded in 2007, Bluehole developed Tera, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, in 2011. Its latest game, “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” recorded accumulated sales of $100 million since its launch in April this year.

This success has attracted the attention of Tencent, which has repeatedly offered to buy stakes in Bluehole. The game developer, however, reportedly refused, saying it does not need fundings at the moment.

Chang Byung-gyu, the founder of Bluehole Studio, has a 20 percent stake, while venture capital companies hold 15 percent. These firms are anticipated to rake in profit amounting to as much as 30 times their initial investments.

Shares in Bluehole, which has yet to be listed, were being traded at 310,000 won on the off-board market as of Aug. 14, up 8.77 percent from the previous trading day.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)

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