Why Is Tencent Exiting Japanese Game Studio Investments and Which Companies Are Affected

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Marvelous Inc.

Tencent is preparing to exit multiple Japanese game studio investments, including Marvelous. See reasons, strategy shift, and industry impact.

Tencent is negotiating its exit from several minority stakes in Japanese video game studios, including Marvelous Inc., the publisher behind Rune Factory and Story of Seasons. The report comes from Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources familiar with the discussions. The move signals a major strategic shift for one of the world’s largest gaming companies, which is reassessing investments made during its aggressive expansion period in 2020.

Table of Contents

What Is Tencent Changing

Tencent is preparing to sell several minority stakes in Japanese studios. In some cases, the company is willing to sell shares back to the original management teams, even at a financial loss. According to Bloomberg’s sources, Tencent is prioritizing strategic realignment over short‑term profit.

Why Is Tencent Selling Its Stakes

Tencent is evaluating whether the synergies it expected from each investment have expired. Many of these stakes were acquired around 2020, when Tencent invested heavily in Japanese creative studios it considered undervalued.

Key reasons include:

  • Synergies no longer meeting expectations
  • A shift away from passive investments
  • Increased scrutiny due to market slowdown
  • Rising internal costs from AI competition

Which Studios Are Affected

Bloomberg reports that Tencent is negotiating exits from several Japanese studios, including:

  • Marvelous Inc.
    Known for Rune Factory, Story of Seasons, and other long‑running franchises.

Marvelous declined to comment on the negotiations.

Who Is Not Included in the Divestment

Tencent’s stakes in the following companies are not part of the exit strategy:

  • PlatinumGames
  • FromSoftware
  • Kadokawa Corporation (FromSoftware’s parent company)

These investments remain strategically important to Tencent.

What Did Tencent Say Publicly

In a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, Tencent reaffirmed its commitment to gaming:

“Video games are central to Tencent’s business. We remain fully committed to working with our investors and maintaining our strong presence in the Japanese gaming market in the long term.”

The company frames the divestments as selective consolidation, not a withdrawal.

What Is Tencent’s New Strategy

Tencent is shifting from passive minority investments to active co‑production and creative recruitment. The company is increasingly focused on:

  • Games with user‑generated content, similar to Minecraft and Roblox
  • Titles with long‑term community engagement
  • Projects where Tencent can play a direct creative role

This pivot aligns with Tencent’s broader restructuring as it faces:

  • A global gaming market slowdown
  • Heavy investment in artificial intelligence
  • Competition from Alibaba and ByteDance

How Does This Affect the Global Industry

The shift was already visible. Weeks before Bloomberg’s report, Don’t Nod announced that Tencent, despite owning roughly 42 percent of the studio, declined to inject additional capital or co‑finance upcoming projects. Don’t Nod warned it may exhaust its cash reserves by 2026.

Tencent remains a shareholder but is reducing active financial support, mirroring its new approach in Japan.

Despite divestments, Tencent is still expanding in other areas:

  • Miniclip, its subsidiary, continues acquiring studios in casual gaming
  • Internal investment vehicles remain active
  • The company is consolidating, not retreating
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