Tencent now owns a minority stake in Life is Strange developer Dontnod, a purchase that sets the Chinese game giant back €30 million (or roughly $36.3 million).
The deal is part of a larger fundraising effort from Dontnod, up to €50 million in newly issued shares, that seeks to set the studio up for a big push into self publishing on PC, consoles, and mobile.
With Tencent on board, Dontnod’s publishing aspirations can now better target the Chinese market as well.
“We are delighted to welcome Tencent as a Dontnod investor. This is a real expression of trust from a key online game leader, which is behind a number of success stories and has invested in several leading companies in the video game industry,” reads a statement from Dontnod CEO Oskar Guilbert.
“Through this partnership, Dontnod is perfectly positioned to take advantage of the various growth drivers in the video game industry, in particular in China and on mobile platforms, in cooperation with an industry leader.”
On the Tencent side of things, this adds to an increasingly busy couple of weeks for Tencent and the world of big-name indie developers as this deal with Dontnod follows last week’s announcement that Tencent has picked up a majority stake in Don’t Starve dev Klei Entertainment.