Throughout the 2020, we’ve been covering the many companies competing to buy up Leyou Technology, the holding company that both owns the majority of Warframe’s Digital Extremes and is working on multiple MMOs itself, including a new Lord of the Rings MMO, Transformers Online, and Civilization Online. Among those companies was Tencent, through one of its subsidiaries, which had entered an exclusivity agreement back in July. Apparently, that deal is going through, as PCGamesInsider reports that the Leyou shareholders have approved the move with more than 97% support for it. It’ll mean close to $1.3B changing hands, a smidge less than the $1.4B rumored earlier this year.
Back in July, analysts suggested that Warframe’s purportedly weak showing in 2019 might be why Leyou was hunting for a buyer, but in August InvestGame says that Leyou’s 2020 revenue was down owing to the “COVID-19 impact and shutdown of the company’s overseas studios,” while Warframe itself “saw a 15.5% growth of registered players.”
