Chinese video game company Tencent has invested money into Yager, the independent game developer that created Spec Ops: The Line. The developer was also once working on zombie game Dead Island 2 before it was removed from development by publisher Deep Silver.
In an announcement this week, Yager confirmed that Tencent invested in the company, but that it will keep on being independent. It's unclear how much money Tencent has put into the developer, however, as it is the world's largest games company, owning Riot Games, a 40% stake in Epic Games, and it has its own streaming service called Tencent Start, it has more than a few million to spend.
Yager CEO Timo Ulmann also said, "We're humbled to join the line-up of Tencent partners which reads like a games industry Who's Who." The investment "will greatly enhance the scope of our business, not just by getting access to Tencent's network and resources but by tapping the vast industry know-how Tencent possesses." Yager has only released a handful of games, its newest title, a multiplayer game called The Cycle, is the sort of game that Tencent, which has invested in so many other multiplayer game developers, could help with.
Yager isn't the only company that Tencent has put more money into. Tencent also recently invested in Scalebound developer PlatinumGames. When that investment was announced, PlatinumGames said that this would allow it to self-publish some of its games. This may be something that Yager is also looking at now that it has Tencent's money behind it.
Yager and PlatinumGames are two companies that have made games that have reviewed well, but have sold poorly. PlatinumGames was also let down by its publisher when Microsoft canceled Sclaebound. It's no surprise why developers like Yager would be over the moon about being given the resources that allow them to be independent and not have to dance to the tune of a publisher that could pull funding at any time.
Tencent is coming off of a very good year and it could potentially invest in more game developers. Tencent Games developed Call of Duty: Mobile, one of the most successful mobile games of 2019. It also makes a huge amount of money from the success of Fortnite and League of Legends. There are many more developers that would love to self-publish too, so Tencent could be making some more announcements soon.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz