Tencent is expanding its Venture Lab initiative to better support early-stage game developers worldwide. The business unit, led by Juno Shin, a 12-year veteran in Tencent’s business development and investment sector, offers investment, publishing, marketing support, consulting, access to technology, business planning, and budgeting advice to help new studios launch their first games. Shin emphasizes the importance of assisting early-stage studios to prevent common startup pitfalls.
“After working with hundreds of studios, you sometimes enjoy the success and, unfortunately, more often you share the pain of failures — but that’s the nature of the business,” he says. Our job is to really help reduce the risks of making the same mistakes and show how to maximize the success rate of their first game.
Venture Lab has already supported notable projects like “Last Epoch” by remote indie studio Eleventh Hour Games and “Enshrouded” by German developer Keen. With these projects achieving success, Shin believes now is the right time to make Venture Lab a more official and public offering.
Expanding Venture Lab support globally
Tencent’s significant role in the games industry, bolstered by its internally-developed titles and its ownership stakes in various companies like Sumo Group, Funcom, Riot Games, Techland, Yager, Supercell, and others, underscores its potential to support early-stage studios and indies. Despite these efforts being in Tencent’s best interests, Shin notes that the company also aims to foster innovation within the industry.
“We’re not a philanthropic company,” he admits. “All the innovations eventually happen from small studios or making new stuff. Rust, No Man’s Sky — all these innovations came from small teams.
By supporting early-stage studios, we can co-create successes together and enjoy not only the creative breakthroughs but also the financial rewards.”
Shin concludes by highlighting the mutual benefits: “We’re doing it for our best interests at the same time, so we win, but they also win and consumers win because there is a new game innovation from a new studio, rather than sequel after sequel.”
Rashan is a seasoned technology journalist and visionary leader serving as the Editor-in-Chief of DevX.com, a leading online publication focused on software development, programming languages, and emerging technologies. With his deep expertise in the tech industry and her passion for empowering developers, Rashan has transformed DevX.com into a vibrant hub of knowledge and innovation. Reach out to Rashan at [email protected]
