The company was founded in 1991 by Paweł Marchewka. Marchewka, born in 1973 in Ostrów Wielkopolski, displayed an interest in video games since his early childhood.[4] In his final years of high school, together with his friends, he started distributing video games to different shops across Poland.
The endeavour was successful enough that, in 1991, when Poland introduced changes to its intellectual property laws, he pivoted to officially founding Techland.[5] Initially, the company focused on translating foreign programs and publishing them on the Polish market. In 1993, Techland began producing its own software: Dictionaries, translators, computer-games.[6]
Techland started as a distributor of computer software and created Prawo Krwi, the first game developed in-house, in 1995. Techland released the sci-fi-themed first-person-shooter Chrome in 2003. A prequel titled Chrome: Specforce was released in 2005. Techland has also developed driving games including rally simulation games Xpand Rally and Xpand Rally Xtreme and Volkswagen-licensed GTI-Racing (2006). [citation needed]
In 2011, Techland released open world survival horror game Dead Island. Its sequel, Dead Island: Riptide appeared in 2013. In August 2013, the company launched a branch in Vancouver, Canada, under the name Digital Scapes Studios.[7]
In July 2021 Techland sold Digital Scapes Studios to CD Projekt, another Polish developer, who proceeded to rename it to CD Projekt Red Vancouver.[13] They also celebrated the company's 30th anniversary that December with a series of discounts for its clients.[14] In 2022, Techland released the open world survival horror game Dying Light 2: Stay Human, a sequel to Dying Light.
In July 2023, Tencent announced that it would become the company's majority shareholder.[15] Despite acquiring a 67% stake in the company for a reported US$1.6 billion, the Polish developer is to maintain creative independence and control over its brands.[16]
On January 10, 2024, it was reported that Tencent had completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in Techland.[17]
Techland's proprietary Chrome Engine of 2003 has been developed further. ChromeEngine 4 was completed in 2006 and provided support for the PlayStation 3. [citation needed] Techland is using its own engine, known as C-Engine. Previously, Techland's engine was called Chrome Engine, but the C-Engine technology is all new.[18] According to the lead designer of the company, Tymon Smektała: “we agreed that this is what we want to do and we want to create games with highly detailed graphics so that you can truly immerse yourself in this world. We knew that to achieve this, we had to create a new engine, a new technology”.[19]
One of the main advantage of the technology is said to be the best possible support of ray tracing (and NVIDIA DLSS) and better use of multi-core processors.[20]
Techland is currently involved in multiple projects, including the development of a highly anticipated AAA open-world fantasy RPG, which the studio has described as its biggest project to date. In addition to this, Techland is also working on another mysterious title. Furthermore, the studio continues to provide ongoing post-launch support for Dying Light 2, ensuring a steady stream of updates and content for the game.[21]
