Shares of Wakefield-based video game developer Team17 Group have soared after it announced it signed a publishing agreement with Tencent Games’ NExT Studios.

Team17 said the deal is for the “roguelike adventure” Crown Trick, launching on PC and Nintendo Switch later this year.  

Team17 shares rose 8% to about 610p to give the firm a stock market value of around £800 million. Team17 shares have risen more than 130% in the past 12 months.

“Following the successful launch of My Time at Portia and Neon Abyss, both of which were developed in China, Team17 is delighted to announce a new partnership with NExT Studios which will see Team17 leveraging its unique blend of commercial and game developer expertise to provide NExT Studios with support to maximise the game’s global appeal outside mainland China,” said Team17.

“Crown Trick, a finalist in the Indie Prize (Asia) 2019 Awards, is set in a procedurally generated maze-like dungeon and is focused on strategic, synchronous, turn-based gameplay where enemy decisions and actions are only revealed when players make their moves.

“The game features hundreds of weapons, skills, and items on hand to customise and evolve the combat style as the quest progresses.”

Team17 CEO Debbie Bestwick said: “We are delighted to be building on our successful track record of attracting Chinese game developers to our games label and in Tencent Games’ NExT, we have another high quality partner.

“Our team is very excited to be working on Crown Trick and we look forward to helping to fully leverage our commercial and games developer expertise and continuing to grow the reputation of our games label in Asia.”