US-based game developer TapZen has raised $8m in series B funding from China-based internet portal Tencent, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
The funding was raised as TapZen’s first game, This Means War!, was released for tablets and smartphones on June 26.
Since its founding, TapZen has followed a strategy of slow growth and maintains a staff of 22. It raised $10m from social game developer Zynga in 2012, and Zynga, Tencent and the company’s founders each currently control an equal amount of shares.
TapZen chief executive Mike Verdu said: “We picked strategic investors that would be aligned with us and focus more on the long term. We are growing very slowly and carefully.”
Tencent has recently been investing in new mobile phone companies, mainly app producers. It owns WeChat, QQ.com and several other online brands with a notable presence in China.