Snapchat Might Be Getting Into Gaming, Report Says

It's been tough sledding for social media company Snap, which operates the messaging service Snapchat, with its share price falling since the IPO back in March. One way the company might improve its fortunes is ... video games? That's the word from Reuters, which reports that Snap investor Tencent believes video games and ad sales could help improve Snap's bottom line, though specifics on this are unclear at this point.

Recently, Snap announced that Tencent bought 145.8 million of its shares on the open market. This in turn led some to wonder how Tencent, which is one of China's biggest internet companies and has many video game investments, might collaborate.

In a statement to Reuters, Tencent said, "The investment enables Tencent to explore cooperation opportunities with the company on mobile games publishing and newsfeed as well as to share its financial returns from the growth of its businesses and monetization in the future."

Snap declined to comment when approached by Reuters. But in an official filing, Snap said it is eager to share "ideas and experiences" with Tencent, which invested in the social media company for the first time in 2013. It added, "We have long been inspired by the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of Tencent and we are grateful to continue our longstanding and productive relationship that began over four years ago."

Tencent owns League of Legends developer Riot Games and Clash of Clans studio Supercell; Tencent also owns a big chunk of Gears of War creator Epic Games.

We'll report back with more details on what Tencent's investment in Snap might mean for gaming as new information comes to light.