Well, well, well, it looks like the marriage between Marvelous and Tencent has come to an end, and it’s a messy divorce. The publisher behind Story of Seasons and Rune Factory has confirmed that its partnership with the Chinese conglomerate has officially ended, with Tencent selling its shares and cancelling a Story of Seasons mobile game that was in development. Because, you know, who needs a mobile game when you can just shove a battle pass down people’s throats and call it a day? An official notice was uploaded to Marvelous’ website, because that’s exactly how you announce the end of a six-year partnership – with a dry, corporate statement.
The End of an Era (Or a Smart Business Move?)
The partnership between Marvelous and Tencent dates back six years, after Tencent’s subsidiary Image Frame Investment purchased a 20 percent stake in the company. And now, Tencent will lose its place as a majority stakeholder, because who needs control when you can just “prioritize capital efficiency and shareholder stability”? As reported by GameBiz, this move by Tencent is part of the company’s shift in investment strategy, which is just a fancy way of saying they’re cutting their losses. Story of Seasons Mobile, developed by NexT Studio, a subsidiary of Tencent, was shown off in a reveal trailer back in 2021, but a full release was never seen, because, you know, it’s not like they were just testing the waters to see if people would actually care.
Tencent’s Investment Strategy: A Game of Musical Chairs
This isn’t the first company Tencent has pulled funding from, and it won’t be the last. They’ve been playing a game of musical chairs with their investments, pulling funding from developers left and right. Just look at Highguard, the failed hero shooter that Tencent was the undisclosed funder for. They pulled funding two weeks after launch, because why bother with a game that’s not making bank? And now, Marvelous is the latest casualty of Tencent’s investment strategy, which seems to be all about cutting losses and moving on to the next big thing. Bloomberg reported back in June that Tencent was considering a major change in its investment strategy, and it looks like Marvelous was just the beginning.
The Future of Gaming: Live Service and Mobile Galore
Many of Tencent’s current investments and projects lie in the mobile and live service realm, because that’s where the real money is. Titles like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, Arena of Valor, and Pokémon Unite are just a few examples of Tencent’s success in the mobile gaming space. And let’s be real, who needs single-player games with actual stories and gameplay when you can just shove a live service down people’s throats and watch the money roll in? It’s a brave new world, folks, and Tencent is just along for the ride.
In the end, the cancellation of Story of Seasons Mobile is just another casualty of the gaming industry’s obsession with live service and mobile gaming. But hey, at least we can all look forward to more battle passes, season passes, and DLCs, because that’s what gaming is all about, right?
Pixel P. Snarkbyte, widely regarded as the “Shakespeare of Sh*tposts,” is a video game expert with a unique knack for turning pixels into punchlines.
Born in the small town of Respawn, Pennsylvania, Pixel grew up mashing buttons on an ancient NES controller, firmly believing that “blowing into the cartridge” was a sacred ritual passed down through generations.
Pixel P. Snarkbyte: proving that life, much like a buggy open-world game, is better with a little lag-induced chaos.
