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Tencent acquires 30m euro minority stake in Dontnod, funding self-publishing expansion

With an overall 40 million euro investment, of which Tencent contributed 30m, Dontnod Entertainment will expand into self-published projects.

TJ Denzer

January 27, 2021 10:56 AM

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There are few narrative-driven game specialist studios as dedicated to the craft as Dontnod Entertainment in the modern industry. Under the umbrellas of Square Enix, Focus Home Interactive, and Xbox Game Studios, the developer has launched a high-quality library of solid narrative games. Most recently, though, it handled both development and publishing of Twin Mirror and Dontnod wants to continue that dual effort. Fortunately, with a recent investment, including a 30 million euro minority stake acquisition from software publishing giant Tencent, it seems that’s exactly what’s coming.

Dontnod Entertainment announced its latest capital increase which included Tencent’s 30 million euro investment (approximately $36.3 million USD) recently via press release, as reported by ActuNews. The raise in capital is primarily for the purpose of continuing developing and self-publishing efforts on new, upcoming projects at Dontnod Entertainment. With Tencent’s investment into Dontnod’s self-publishing pursuits, it acquires a minority stake in the studio and will have an option to suggest appointment of a Tencent representative on Dontnod’s Board of Directors.

To clarify, Tencent has not garnered any vast amount of control over Dontnod. The move is more similar to a similar investment by the Chinese software publishing giant made to PlatinumGames in 2020. PlatinumGames similarly pursued self-publishing prospects with Tencent’s investment, launching the Platinum4 series of reveals and announcements which included the opening a new sister office and studio, the remaster of Wonderful 101, and the reveal of brand the brand new upcoming IP Project G.G. under the directorship of Hideki Kamiya.

There appears to be many similarities in Tencent’s investment into PlatinumGames and Dontnod Entertainment. That said, ultimately it means that Dontnod will seemingly have the ongoing finances it needs to continue what it does best: bring some of the best narrative-driven video games the industry has to offer. Stay tuned as we continue to watch for what comes of this investment in the future.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.