Tencent and The Pokémon Company have announced a new partnership to create multiple new games in the Pokémon franchise. The news came via Tencent themselves in a post on their official Weibo blog. While no information was given on what type of games will be developed in this partnership, Tencent revealed that development will be handled by the company’s TiMi Studio Group, best know for the hit mobile game Arena of Valor.
Thus, whatever the game turns out to be, it will most likely be another mobile title in the franchise. The Pokémon Company has recently been teaming with a plethora of different developers for a variety of different mobile games. The biggest of which is Pokémon GO developed by Niantic. Other games include Magikarp Jump and the upcoming Pokémon Sleep from Select Button, Pokémon Rumble Rush from Ambrella, and the upcoming Pokémon Masters from DeNA.
With Pokémon being one of the largest media franchises in the world, partnering with Tencent makes a lot of sense for The Pokémon Company. Tencent is one of the biggest game companies in China, and The Pokémon Company and Nintendo have been trying to break through in the country mostly focused on the PC and mobile markets. Earlier this year, Nintendo announced they were partnering with Tencent to bring the Nintendo Switch to the country.
Pokémon is always one of the best selling games for Nintendo upon release. The most recent titles, Pokémon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! have sold over combined ten million units since release last November. Nintendo is banking on Pokémon yet again as the new Generation VIII games Pokémon Sword and Shield are set to release on November 15. Nintendo also recently unveiled new, smaller version of the Nintendo Switch called the Nintendo Switch Lite, and so far the only special edition of the new version of the console features the Pokémon Sword and Shield legendary Pokémon Zacian and Zamazenta engraved on the back of the console.