Tencent Purchases Minority Stake In Epic Games

Tencent Holdings has announced that it has purchased a minority stake in Epic Games. Neither the Chinese company nor Epic have revealed the terms of the deal, under which Epic maintains its independence.

"We have a lot that we can learn from each other, and we look forward to supporting the Epic team as they embark on their next phase of gaming innovation across both emerging and familiar platforms," says David Wallerstein, senior executive vice president of Tencent. 

Epic is similarly bullish about the partnership. "Tencent's investment will empower Epic to help us do even more of what we do best, which is making great games and game technology," says Epic's president, Mike Capps. "Their expertise in the global online gaming market is second-to-none, and the opportunity to work with them to bring richer experiences to players all over the world is irresistible."

Tencent operates a number of ventures in its native China, including a popular instant-messaging program Tencent QQ, and web portal QQ.com. The company purchased a majority stake in League of Legends dev Riot Games last year for a rumored $350 million.

[Source: Joystiq]