Marvelous, the publisher behind Story of Seasons and Rune Factory, has confirmed that its partnership with Tencent has officially ended, with the latter selling its shares. As a result, the company has cancelled a Story of Seasons mobile game that was currently in development. An official notice was uploaded to Marvelous’ website today.
Marvelous and Tencent’s business partnership dates back six years, after Tencent’s subsidiary Image Frame Investment purchased a 20 percent stake in the company. As a result, Tencent will, of course, lose its place as a majority stakeholder. As reported by GameBiz, this move by Tencent is part of the company’s shift in investment strategy to prioritize “capital efficiency” and “shareholder stability.”
Story of Seasons Mobile was developed by NexT Studio, a subsidiary of Tencent. A reveal trailer for the game was shown off way back in 2021, but a full release was never seen.
This isn’t the first company Tencent has pulled funding from, as shortly after the release of the failed hero shooter Highguard, it was revealed that Tencent was the game’s undisclosed funder. Following the game’s disappointing launch, Tencent pulled funding from developer Wildlight Entertainment.
This also may not be the last time we see it happen, as back in June Bloomberg reported that Tencent was considering a major change in its investment strategy. At that time, Marvelous was reported as one of the companies considered.
Bloomberg’s reporting said there were “several” other Japanese developers being considered as well, but it likely wouldn’t include the likes of FromSoftware and Platinum Games, both of which Tencent owns a stake in and both of which are doing quite well. In a statement provided to Bloomberg, Tencent stated, “Video games are core to Tencent’s business,” and that it “remain[s] fully committed to working with our investees and maintaining our strong presence in the Japanese game market over the long term.”
Many of Tencent’s current investments and projects lie in the mobile and live service realm, and that’s also where most of its success lies. Titles developed and owned by Tencent include PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, Arena of Valor, and Pokémon Unite.
