Another day, another Microsoft acquisition rumor. This time it’s the turn of Dying Light developer Techland, with full speculation this weekend that has been absorbed by the green machine of Xbox boss Phil Spencer. To be fair, it’s not the first time we’ve heard this rumor in the last year, presumably because it’s one of the few major independent developers that hasn’t been wrapped up yet.
As such, setting a source for history this time around is not at all easy. As far as we can tell, the latest round of reporting comes from a podcast called Defining Duke, in which one of the hosts hinted that Microsoft is in the market for another developer or publisher to bolster its software offering for 2021 While the presenter did not elaborate, the host of one different Xbox podcast (hopefully you are up to date) posted on Twitter who are “pretty sure” of their Techland. We know: emoji eyeroll and all that.
Aside from unstable sources, the story gathered enough steam to convince a comment from the Polish studio’s community manager. He said: “Techland is an independent studio and was not acquired by any other publisher.”
Of course, little has been done to curb speculation. Many have pointed out that even if a behind-the-scenes purchase occurs, the developer would not be able to comment until the ink is dry. We assume that stranger things have happened (Bethesda, for example), but the way this story came about makes us pause; until more concrete evidence appears, all this is pure hearing for now.