Internet technology provider NetEase has taken a minority stake in US-based video game development studio Second Dinner through a $30m investment.
Founded in 2018, Second Dinner has partnered motion picture studio Marvel Entertainment to create a new game that is currently under development, but has not disclosed any details of the project.
The company was co-founded by Ben Brode and Hamilton Chu, former executives at Blizzard, the producer of World of Warcraft, Overwatch and the Diablo series, who also worked on collectable card-based online game Hearthstone while at the company.
The NetEase investment will be used to fund development of the Marvel tie-in and expand Second Dinner’s team.
Ethan Wang, vice-president at NetEase, said: “The Second Dinner team has a strong track record of delivering quality games. With the resources and creative freedom they now have, we look forward to what they will come up with next.”
China-based NetEase invested $50m in Improbable, a UK-based game programming technology developer valued at about $2bn, in July 2018, and its portfolio of gaming investments also includes Niantic, Bungie and Mobvista.