Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
Yager Development, the developer of Spec Ops: The Line and The Cycle, has received a capital investment from Tencent Holdings (via Venture Beat).
“Tencent is not only the world’s leading games company but also a prolific investor with a stellar track record,” said chief executive officer Timo Ullmann. “We’re humbled to join the lineup of Tencent partners, which reads like a games industry Who’s Who. We’re confident that this will greatly enhance the scope of our business, not just by getting access to Tencent’s network and resources, but by tapping the vast industry know-how Tencent possesses.” Tencent Holdings is the largest gaming company in the world, and possesses stakes in Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, Miniclip, and Ubisoft, and owns Riot Games in its entirety. Its studio, TiMi Studio, is the team behind the incredibly successful Call of Duty: Mobile, which has been downloaded over 150 million times and is one of the top grossing games for iOS and Android in the U.S.
Spec Ops: The Line is the feather in Yager Development’s cap, as a haunting and horrifying third-person shooter following a special operations force into Dubai. It is currently working on The Cycle, a “PvEvP” battle royale wherein players compete to complete contracts within a match. The investment will let the Berlin-based developer to experiment with self-publishing—like Platinum Games—and be able to draw upon Tencent’s resources and connections.
“Over the last few years, Yager has been developing our games-as-a-service approach in connection with a F2P business model, and this presented its own set of challenges for us,” explained Ullmann. “This is why we were looking for a strategic investor who shared our vision and who possesses not just the financial resources, but also a lot of experience in this field, and we found this investor with Tencent.”
