Tencent, the top dog of Chinese gaming, is looking to break into the world of RTS game directly. And they’re looking to use ex-Blizzard staff to do it.
For those who haven’t heard of them, Tencent is a game publisher in China. They’re massive, actually, comparable to Microsoft or Sony, just without hardware. The company recently founded a studio based out of LA called Uncapped Games. The studio has a specific focus on developing RTS games. Leading the studio is David Kim and Jason Hughs, who were lead roles for games like Warcraft and Diablo.
Kim describes the new role as an opportunity of a lifetime, allowing him to return to RTS games, something he had a particular interest in doing for a long time.
“I’ve always wanted to take a shot at another RTS game for a very long time now, maybe close to a decade. If we’re making a sequel to an RTS, there are some things that have to be in that game to make it a sequel. But if we make it a brand new game, it opens up more possibilities on the game design side to be able to execute what we want to execute the best. That’s the advantage we have here, I think.”
David Kim, Source: PC Gamer
Hughs added that there’s a great deal of interest toward RTS games at Tencent, “especially from the CEO.” They assure us that the company’s main interest is to make “a great game” above all else.
RTS games haven’t been a center-stage genre for many years now. But as of late, we’re seeing more and more interest for it grow. With games like Age of Empires 4 on the horizon, and companies like Tencent investing in RTS games, we might end up seeing a renaissance here soon.
Stay tuned for more.
