Playtonic Games has come a long way since it was first founded in 2014. Although it has currently only developed two games – 3D platformer Yooka-Laylee and 2.5D spin-off game Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair – it now has a publishing label, Playtonic Friends, for indie titles and is pursuing new ambitious plans for both the company and the Yooka-Laylee IP thanks to an investment from Tencent.
Specifically, Tencent as acquired a minority stake in the company, so it hasn’t bought Playtonic out like it did with Wake Up Interactive, the parent company of Ninjala developer Soleil. What this investment means is that Playtonic can expand the studio, with there already plans to create three development teams. This will allow Playtonic to make even more games, with one of them already confirmed to be another Yooka-Laylee entry.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Playtonic managing director Gavin Price explains that the studio always had a plan to grow in scale and was surprised that Tencent was interested in Playtonic. He adds that the studio aspires to have the Yooka-Laylee brand reach a point where it could appear on a kids’ meal box at a massive fast-food chain.
What’s more, Playtonic aims to not only expand its own teams but to take a more active role within the industry itself. Nothing’s set in stone just yet, but Price mentions the possibility of opening new offices (Leamington Spa is one location Price has his eye on), moving headquarters, and even making acquisitions of its own, so that the studio can increase its headcount from 40 to 90 over the next two years.
As for its games, it already had three projects in development before the Tencent investment. There are still no exact details on any of them (besides one of them being Yooka-Laylee related), but Price has suggested that they won’t all be 3D platformers like the first Yooka-Laylee was. It will always remain a key genre within Playtonic, but it doesn’t want to have three games in development that all play similarly. Price even makes a direct comparison with Rare (Playtonic was founded by several ex-Rare employees), pointing out how, at one point, Rare was working on three 3D platformers at once: Donkey Kong 64, Banjo-Tooie, and Conker’s Bad Fur Day.
Price laments that Playtonic has only just begun pursuing its long-time goals, saying that the company could have probably started doing this two years ago but opted to play it safe. With Tencent’s backing, Price believes that Playtonic is “even more prepared now.”
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
