Chinese multinational technology conglomerate Tencent is flexing its position as the world’s largest video games publisher again by sticking its fingers into yet another studio. This time, it’s independent French developer DONTNOD, which revealed today that it had sold a minority stake to the Shenzhen-based behemoth. According to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Oskar Guilbert, the business agreement and capital increase will allow DONTNOD to self-publish more of its future titles and expand its presence in the Chinese and mobile markets.
“We are delighted to welcome Tencent as a DONTNOD investor,” Guilbert said. “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.”
“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. The capital increase announced today will enable us to step up and boost the roll-out of our development plan, which aims to capture more value from our original creations by self-publishing more games.”
DONTNOD is best known for its third-person action/adventure debut, Remember Me, as well as narrative adventure Life Is Strange and vampire RPG Vampyr. The studio’s latest release is Twin Mirror, a story-driven game about an investigative reporter who returns to his childhood town to unravel its various mysteries.