Chinese games publisher Oasis Games has headed up a $3 million investment in Austrian indie developer Iron Mountain.

As part of the deal the Beijing-based company will snag a minority stake in the studio along with publishing rights for an upcoming competitive online multiplayer “hero sport” title.

It is scheduled for a global release in 2019 on PC, PlayStation 4 and other console platforms.

Oasis Games has released 90 titles across mobile, PC and console to date and is the global publishing partner of Sony Interactive Entertainment Shanghai. One of its most popular titles is Legend Online, which has over 50 million players.

“This long-term, strategic partnership with Iron Mountain Interactive is our first investment in a Western company and further strengthens our publishing portfolio and stable of development talent, as this team’s long and impressive track record for developing high-quality, unique gameplay experiences for both Western and Asian audiences, will resonate with our international player base,” said Oasis Games CEO Yuhui Wang.

“This partnership marks yet another milestone in our ongoing strategy for growing our business in the Western market, together with our partners at Sony Interactive Entertainment Asia.”

Ironing out the details

Iron Mountain was set up in Vienna last year and is headed up by a group of Rockstar Games, Deep Silver and Socialspiel Entertainment veterans. The team has collective experience working on triple-a titles Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, Manhunt and Dead Island.

“Oasis Games shares our vision for bringing high-quality online multiplayer games to the world, and they have been doing so globally since 2011,” said Iron Mountain CEO Mike Borras (pictured, main).

“I’m looking forward to working in partnership with Oasis Games to combine their Chinese and Global platforms and resources with our love for creating unique and ambitious multiplayer games that can be enjoyed on multiple platforms by millions of players around the world.”