Remedy borrows 15 million euros from Chinese company Tencent

The Finnish studio Remedy announced today to investors that it is going to borrow an amount of 15 million euros from the Chinese company Tencent at 8% per annum. However, instead of a refund, it is possible to convert the amount into shares of the company, the transfer amount must be 27.2 euros per share. Thus, Tencent could purchase up to 811,000 shares of Remedy, which should represent approximately 5.98% of the total. The Chinese company already owns a 14% stake in Remedy. The loan still needs to be confirmed at an investor meeting in October.

The studio intends to use the money to finance the development and marketing of ongoing projects, some of which the Finnish company will publish itself. Remedy is currently working on a multiplayer spin-off of Control, codenamed Condor, a full-fledged sequel to Control 2, and remakes of the first two Max Payne games. For Control 2, Remedy previously received funding from Annapurna Pictures, which also acquired the film and TV rights to Control and Alan Wake.

“As we transition into self-publishing, this funding will help us develop and realize the full potential of the games currently in development, as well as successfully conduct promotional activities for our other self-published games.” says Remedy CEO Tero Virtala in a press release. “Tencent’s investment demonstrates strong confidence in Remedy’s long-term vision and strategy.”

Tencent and Remedy previously collaborated for several years on the multiplayer Vanguard project, the concept of which was changed last November and renamed Kestrel. But even that will never see the light of day, as the Finnish company canceled it in May this year, saying it wanted to focus on other projects.

While Remedy’s games have received very high ratings from players and critics (their latest game, Alan Wake 2, received the highest possible score in our review), they haven’t fared very well in the long term. The remaster of the first Alan Wake paid for itself only after two years, and the funds required for the development and marketing of the second part, according to available information, have not yet been fully recouped.