Dontnod, perhaps best known for developing narrative games like Life is Strange and Tell Me Why, announced that it is raising $48.5 million in order to stay independent and keep self-publishing its releases (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz). Roughly $36.3 million of that figure has been raised from Tencent, an investment that will give the Chinese tech company a minority stake in the development studio. “We are delighted to welcome Tencent as a Dontnod investor,” reads a statement from Dontnod CEO and chairman Oskar Guilbert. “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.” This is just the latest announcement in a long line of Tencent investments. Last week, Don’t Starve studio Klei Entertainment announced that Tencent had acquired a majority stake in the company, a deal that was made after the Chinese tech giant helped Klei publish its games in the region. GTFO developer 10 Chambers also saw a major investment from Tencent last year, and the company has established a Californian studio and funded projects at Spec Ops: The Line developer Yager, too.
