A consortium comprising Super Media Group, everplay and HIRO Capital has acquired first-person shooter studio Bulkhead from Chinese giant Tencent.

everplay, a global independent games developer and publisher, has acquired a 20% minority stake in SMG for £2 million.

Founded in 2014, Derby-based Bulkhead is behind indie FPS titles including Battalion 1944. It has also invested in proprietary Unreal Engine tooling with its ‘War Tech Framework’, enabling faster FPS development cycles built around realistic FPS mechanics.

Alongside everplay’s equity investment, the group will partner with the studio on a new title, Wardogs, a multiplayer FPS to be published by Team17 and planned for Early Access release on PC in 2026 and a full multi-platform release in 2027.