Bohemia Interactive says it isn't being acquired by Tencent, despite recent reports

DayZ and Arma 3 developer Bohemia Interactive has moved to quash recent reports claiming Chinese conglomerate Tencent had purchased a majority share of the studio.

News of the acquisition first surfaced in a story by tech industry website The Information, which reported that Tencent had acquired a 70-80% stake in Bohemia Interactive for around $260m USD, citing "a person familiar with the matter" as its source.

However, in a new statement released to press, a Bohemia Interactive spokesperson has refuted the website's claims. "The information in that article is incorrect," they said, "Tencent has not purchased a stake in Bohemia Interactive and it remains an independent studio."

Bohemia Interactive's CEO Marek Španěl expanded on that statement further in a message posted to the studio's forum earlier today.

"I just wanted to let you know that the information circulated by various major media sources about Bohemia Interactive acquired by Tencent is not true," Španěl wrote, "We were talking to numerous potential partners in the past about possible strategic cooperation and we may do so in the future as well but as of now, we remain an independent studio."

"PS: I am just an old man working on games for more than 30 years of my life. But the valuation circulated in the media sounds tempting," Španěl cheekily added, "Maybe I should think about my retirement plans after all now? Any better offers?".

While Tencent may not have a current stake in Bohemia Interactive, the company continues to expand its presence within the games industry. Alongside full ownership of League of Legends developer Riot Games and Funcom, the company owns stakes in the likes of Epic Games, Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, Frontier Developments, and Paradox Interactive.

More recently, it made a capital investment in Bayonetta and Vanquish developer Platinum Games and acquired the publishing rights to System Shock 3.