A press release posted on the official Square Enix website announced that the company formed a strategic partnership with Tencent, the Chinese giant considered to be Asia's most valuable company thanks to its estimated $580 billion market value.

　　The partnership will include the formation of a joint-venture company, co-development of AAA titles based on new IPs, licensing of existing IPs and more.

　　Square Enix Group is making tireless efforts to offer unique content experiences to its fans all over the world through multifaceted business deployment. Square Enix Group will be accelerating these business development efforts to enhance its content services worldwide through this strategic alliance with Tencent Group. Outcomes of this newly created alliance include the establishment of a joint-venture company, co-development of AAA titles based on new intellectual properties, the licensing of existing intellectual properties, and more.

　　“We have strong expectations for this strategic alliance with Square Enix Group,” says Steven Ma, Senior Vice President, Tencent Group. “The alliance will enable us to couple our broad range of internet service capabilities to Square Enix Group’s superb creativity, and provide our customers with unprecedented content experiences on a global basis.”

　　“Tencent Group and Square Enix Group share the vision of utilizing technology and creativity to deliver unprecedented entertainment experiences and services to a global audience,” said Yosuke Matsuda, President and Representative Director of Square Enix Holdings. “This newly established alliance will be a strong boost to Square Enix Group’s strategy to diversify our content offerings and expand access channels to a wider customer base.”

　　Tencent has slowly expanded its reach in the gaming industry. They own 100% of Riot Games, 80% of Grinding Gear Games, 40% of Epic Games, 9% of Frontier Developments, 5% of Ubisoft and Paradox, 1.5% of Bluehole and an unknown minority stake in Activision Blizzard.

　　It will be interesting to see what this partnership can do, given the resources of Tencent and the allure of Square Enix IPs.