Tencent wants to appeal to U.S. goers through blockbuster games and IPs. However, they want their business and corporations in the U.S. to be led by an American, which is something that we relayed back on May 24th, 2020. As of today, a new report has popped up detailing how Tencent’s LA branch, LightSpeed Studio, will be led by Rockstar Games veteran Steve Martin.
In case you are out of the loop, both this year and late last year, we reported on Tencent seeking to increase its presence in the U.S. by partnering with established companies and creating its own games designed for said country.
Based in Palo Alto, California, Tencent’s new studio will be opening soon and will churn out triple-A games for PS5 and Xbox Series X. Additionally, website gamesindustry.biz reports that this new studio is under Tencent’s existing Lightspeed and Quantum subsidiary, which was created in 2008.
Moreover, the website managed to get word from Martin on what LightSpeed Studio’s culture will be like when it comes to making video games. Martin’s explanation sits below:
“We’re ushering a new era of game culture by combining world-class development with a stress-free work environment. From day one, our teams will be focused on building the highest caliber games while promoting integrity, proactivity, collaboration, and creativity.”
In case you’re scratching your heading and thinking, “Who even is this Martin dude?” Well, he served as the studio manager on Grand Theft Auto V and was also the studio director for Red Dead Redemption 2. He’ll be joined by other devs from Rockstar Games, Respawn Entertainment, 2K Games, and Insomniac to work on a new blockbuster open-world game while at LightSpeed Studio.
Furthermore, Vincent Gao — international business director of TiMi Studios, which is a subsidiary of Tencent Games — had this to say about LightSpeed Studio:
“Our goal in North America is to hire an experienced leader who will build a world class team to create new games for any platform.”
In other words, mobile goers and PC gamers aren’t ruled out of the equation.
