Developer Dontnod just got the extra funding they needed to create their future dream adventure projects. Or at least, a new IP from their paymasters.

Turns out Tencent has purchased a minority stake in the Life is Strange/Tell Me Why/Remember Me developer, all to create a new IP. How much does this cost Tencent? About US$36 million, which may be chump change for the giant Chinese conglomerate. The money will be used to fund the new IP for PC, consoles, and mobile devices. The funding will also be used to allow Dontnod to self-publish the IP.

Here’s the official press statement from Tencent:

“The funds raised will mainly be used to finance the ramp-up of Dontnod’s strategy to develop new self-published intellectual properties worldwide on PC, consoles, and mobile platforms, and thereby take full advantage of positive trends within the industry for creators of internationally renowned and originals games, such as Dontnod.”

In addition, the studio will be doing a “concurrent signing of a business cooperation agreement with Tencent”. We’re guessing the new IP will be a third-person adventure game with weird fantastical stuff going on in a contemporary setting, filled with quirky characters who may or may not be queer. Oh, and lots of puzzles and branching dialogue.

In any case, Dontnod is pleased with this minority stake ownership from a giant conglomerate, at least according to Dontnod CEO Oskar Guilbert.

“This is a real expression of trust from a key online game leader, which is behind a number of success stories and has invested in several leading companies in the video game industry. Through this partnership, Dontnod is perfectly positioned to take advantage of the various growth drivers in the video game industry, in particular in China and on mobile platforms, in cooperation with an industry leader. The capital increase announced today will enable us to step up and boost the roll-out of our development plan, which aims to capture more value from our original creators by self-publishing more games.”