Square Enix plans to create a strategic alliance with Chinese tech giant Tencent, the video game publisher announced on Thursday.
Both have signed a letter of intent and will now establish a joint-venture company. They will also co-develop AAA titles based on new intellectual properties, license existing intellectual properties, and more.
This partnership gives Tencent yet another foothold in the gaming industry. The conglomerate already owns “League of Legends” studio Riot Games and has a major stake in mobile developer Supercell. It also has various minority stakes in “Fortnite” developer Epic Games, “PUBG” developer Bluehole, publisher Paradox Interactive, and mobile games publisher Glu Mobile, to name a few.
“We have strong expectations for this strategic alliance with Square Enix Group,” said Tencent Group senior vice president Steven Ma. “The alliance will enable us to couple our broad range of internet service capabilities to Square Enix Group’s superb creativity, and provide our customers with unprecedented content experiences on a global basis.”
Meanwhile, Square Enix said the alliance will allow it to accelerate its business development efforts and enhance its content services worldwide.
“Tencent Group and Square Enix Group share the vision of utilizing technology and creativity to deliver unprecedented entertainment experiences and services to a global audience,” said Yosuke Matsuda, president and representative director of Square Enix. “This newly established alliance will be a strong boost to Square Enix Group’s strategy to diversify our content offerings and expand access channels to a wider customer base.”
