Chinese giant Tencent is considering acquiring a minority stake in Voodoo, French hyper-casual developer and publisher.
This is according to Seeking Alpha and Sina News.
Tencent might be interesting in buying a 20-25% stake for less than 500M euros ($568M). The deal might value Voodoo at 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion).
Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad points out that the transaction will allow Voodoo to reach millions of Chinese players through WeChat Mini Games (Instant Games). If the transaction does take place, Voodoo’s titles will not require a lot of changes to comply with regulatory updates in China since games monetized via ads do not require a license in the country. For Tencent, in Ahmad’s words, the deal might be another step in its “silent global expansion through identifying gaming firms to invest in or acquire.”
While the deal has not been finalized yet, Ubisoft and Zynga are apparently also interested in purchasing a stake in Voodoo, Bloomberg reported in May.