Tencent grabs minority stake in TerraTech developer Payload Studios

Tencent has acquired a minority stake in British developer Payload Studios.

Payload didn't disclose the size of the investment, but said the cash will be used to expand its team and develop new titles with its "signature community-driven model."

Founded in 2013, the London-based studio has spent the past seven years working on its open-world, sandbox builder game TerraTech. 

That project was self-funded and self-published by Payload, which explained the Tencent investment will allow it to be more ambitious moving forward.

"This investment is a huge milestone for Payload Studios. It represents a major validation for the team, and everything we have achieved in the past seven years with TerraTech," said Payload co-founder and CEO, Russel Clarke.

"With the strength and reach of Tencent backing us, we can scale our capability and ambition to levels we had only dreamed of until now -- taking the TerraTech IP to new places and opening up entirely new possibilities."

Tencent has already made a string of notable investments in 2021, grabbing stakes in Canadian studio Klei Entertainment, Life is Strange creator Dontnod, and DayZ developer Bohemia Interactive.