Chinese tech giant Tencent is planning a deal to acquire 10% of Korean game developer BlueHole which is famous for its Battle Royale game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds for $500 million, valuing the company at $5 billion.
The deal is intended to give a chance for early investors to cash out on shares. This investment move will also give blue hole the firepower to fend off its clones and competitors in a genre which it invented and keep improving its game. Last year, Bluehole sold more than 30 million copies of the game on personal computers.
As of 2017, Tencent is the largest gaming company in the world by revenue and market value. Its leading game Arena of Valor, a mobile MOBA game based on Chinese historical characters is the world's most popular and top-grossing game by worldwide iOS plus Google Play revenue in May. It grossed on average $84 million per month on iOS in China in the first five months of the year.
Previously, Tencent had acquired a 1.5 percent stake in Bluehole for $63.9 million as a part of a deal for publishing rights in China.