Chinese telecommunications giant Tencent has bought a 20% stake in the American studio Pocket Gems for $ 60 million.
The deal will allow Tencent not only to bring well-proven titles to Asian markets, but also to gain expertise on the Western market. Pocket Gems, in turn, will gain access to a giant audience, which has a Chinese publisher and a platform holder.
“This expansion will allow Pocket Gems to reach more than 1 billion players worldwide with its own Mantis Engine and original IP,” the official press release says.
Pocket Gems, whose total downloads amount to 200 million, plans to create original mobile titles and develop its three-dimensional engine, on which their new project, War Dragons, has recently been released (not yet available worldwide).
For Tencent, this is not the first investment in a Western company. The Chinese have stakes in Epic Games, Miniclip and Riot Games. They also recently acquired a 15% stake in Glu Mobile for $126 million.
By the way, the information regarding the exact size of the acquired share of Pocket Gems and its cost is still unofficial. Its source is the Wall Street Journal, referring to people who are aware of the deal.
A source: Pocket Gems
Also on the topic:
- Tencent has invested $126 million in Glu MobileTencent acquired a controlling stake in a European gaming company
- Tencent earned $12.9 billion in 2014